Zoe's four month birthday present: A stone of remembrance
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In Joshua, God's people set up stones to serve as a reminder of what God had done on their behalf.
In 1 Samuel, the people remembered the great victory God accomplished for them.
In our lives today, we have a new stone of remembrance.
Or, perhaps I should say, Zoe Amanda has a new stone of remembrance.
When I initially drafted yesterday's blog post, I shared the deadline of the end of this week for the rest of our first adoption payment to be raised. Then - before the post went live - I thought, That's crazy. It just isn't possible. And even though we needed the money sooner, I changed the deadline in the post from the end of the week to the end of the weekend. I just wasn't sure $1,870 could be raised in two days via this blog.
Two days weren't necessary. We didn't even need 24 hours. It is all raised. The exact amount.
Today Zoe Amanda is four months old. And to be honest, I was dreading today. While I praise God for each milestone and birthday, I know my heart will ache a little every time she is one month older and not here with us.
But I didn't need to dread today. I didn't need to because God's timing provided a stone of remembrance instead.
For me.
For her.
For His glory.
And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” {Joshua 4:20-24}Skip ahead a couple books in the Bible, and we see Samuel setting up a stone after God acted in a mighty way to give victory to His people. He called the stone Ebenezer, which means "stone of help."
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”{1 Samuel 7:12}In Joshua, the people remembered God's provision of dry ground and safe passage.
In 1 Samuel, the people remembered the great victory God accomplished for them.
In our lives today, we have a new stone of remembrance.
Or, perhaps I should say, Zoe Amanda has a new stone of remembrance.
When I initially drafted yesterday's blog post, I shared the deadline of the end of this week for the rest of our first adoption payment to be raised. Then - before the post went live - I thought, That's crazy. It just isn't possible. And even though we needed the money sooner, I changed the deadline in the post from the end of the week to the end of the weekend. I just wasn't sure $1,870 could be raised in two days via this blog.
Two days weren't necessary. We didn't even need 24 hours. It is all raised. The exact amount.
Today Zoe Amanda is four months old. And to be honest, I was dreading today. While I praise God for each milestone and birthday, I know my heart will ache a little every time she is one month older and not here with us.
But I didn't need to dread today. I didn't need to because God's timing provided a stone of remembrance instead.
For me.
For her.
For His glory.