{"id":13960,"date":"2017-04-04T13:11:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T17:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=13960"},"modified":"2024-03-16T16:14:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T20:14:32","slug":"stones-of-remembrance-12-occasions-where-we-saw-god-act-mightily-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=13960","title":{"rendered":"Stones of Remembrance – 12 Occasions Where We Saw God Act Mightily (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"2014<\/a><\/p>\n

[Adapted from the Archives]<\/p>\n

\u201cCross over before the ark of the Lord<\/span> your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6\u00a0<\/sup>that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, \u2018What do these stones mean to you?\u2019 <\/strong><\/span> 7\u00a0<\/sup>Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord<\/span>; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/em> \u2013 Joshua 4:5-7<\/a><\/p>\n

My mind has been troubled by many things in recent days – loved ones who are sick, friends losing jobs or stressed in their current work situations, young adults struggling with addictions or alienated from their parents, our country’s political battles, and how the world’s gone mad.<\/p>\n

This is not anything new…but I am left a little dull spiritually in the most beautiful season of the year. We are counting down to Easter Sunday…meditating on what the Messiah did for us all…in his last teachings and healings, his surrendering himself to die for us, and his glorious resurrection. Hallelujah, what a Savior.<\/p>\n

It is in remembering God and all He has done for us and continues to do for us, out of love and mercy, that my dullness dissipates.<\/p>\n

On my kitchen windowsill, I keep a small pile of 12 stones. They are a reminder to me of the promises of God and how He faithfully, over and over again, delivers his children.<\/p>\n

I want to share just 12 of those very personal occasions here\u202612 remembrances of how God has shown Himself mighty in our lives.<\/p>\n

1) God brought my husband and me together in a remarkable way.<\/strong> I was finishing paperwork to go overseas to work as a nurse and Dave was working on his doctorate almost 1000 miles away. Through a series of God-shaped events, I ended up, not overseas, but in his city teaching in the same university. We met in a tiny church, became close friends\u2026and the rest is [our] history. I did get to work overseas\u2026so nothing lost, and so much gained.\"2009<\/a><\/p>\n

2) Our always-happy little girl at 4 years old became very sick.<\/strong> She didn\u2019t seem sick to the pediatricians and so was misdiagnosed for several days. She was always a very stoic little kid when dealing with pain or sickness, and we knew something was terribly wrong.\u00a0 Finally on the 4th day of taking her to be seen by the doctors, and just in time, she was diagnosed with a ruptured appendix, peritonitis, and sepsis. Through this harrowing experience, God showed Himself mighty in her life, and ours, as we prayed over her and persevered in a messed-up situation\u2026and she was healed.\"Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

3) Our 3rd child came home to us from South Korea.<\/strong> He had a rough start in life, and we knew giving him the care he needed would be a challenge for us. We also knew he was meant to be part of our family. As we boarded the plane to retrieve him, I had one of those moments of \u201cwhat if\u2019s\u201d. What if we got ahead of God in our desire to add to our family? What if he wasn\u2019t meant for us? A little late for what if\u2019s\u2026but that was the condition of my heart for that moment. Looking out the window of the plane on that damp late summer morning, the sun broke through. Against the mist shone a double rainbow. Not just one promise\u2026but two. Peace stilled my heart. Through all of\u00a0our son\u2019s\u00a0struggles and triumphs over these many years, I look back to that defining moment\u2026and am settled.\"Baby<\/a>\"Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

4) Sometime in my 30\u2019s, I had one of those crises of belief.<\/strong> This wasn\u2019t a unique situation, but it was severe. No power in my life. No place, seemingly in God\u2019s kingdom. Outwardly, all seemed well (active in church, occupied with children, friends, work). Inwardly, I was terrified that somehow I had missed God. Somehow,\u00a0\u00a0someway, what I had done to walk with God wasn\u2019t enough. Then\u2026a small group of us attended a conference on revival with Henry Blackaby and Richard Owen Roberts speaking. As I listened to Dr. Roberts speak, my thinking was transformed. \"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: Matt Henry<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u00a0was small behind the podium, and yet his whole countenance reminded me of what Moses must have looked like\u2026after meeting with GOD Himself.<\/strong> I can\u2019t tell you what he said, really, but there was a moment when the Holy Spirit touched my heart with the great truth of His work in my life. Tears flowed uncontrollably, and in silence, I worshiped the Savior of my life. There has never been a moment of doubt since for me regarding salvation and being a child of GOD.<\/p>\n

5) Our nephew, Chad, died over 20 years ago.<\/strong> One day, I will write about him, but for now, suffice it to say he was a shining star in our family. Loving, funny, accepting of all his crazy family. He died instantly in a car accident at 23 years forever young.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We were in deep shock at his death\u2026all of us. When the time came for us to view his body, in the casket, I remember thinking, \u201cWell, God, this will be a big test of the sufficiency<\/a> of Your grace.\u201d As his mom, dad, only sister, grandparents and the rest of us circled that casket, a miracle happened. Grace abounded. All there was in those moments was deep love and amazing grace.<\/p>\n

6) There did come a day for our family that we would take a job overseas.<\/strong> It\u2019s one thing for me to decide to go as a single person. A whole other thing transpires when two people determine to gather up all the grandchildren and take them continents away from the grandparents. When we first told our parents, it was heart-wrenching\u2026we felt their sadness as if it were our own. Then\u2026the Lord worked\u2026 Not 24 hours after the weight of this news, my father-in-law fetched his world atlas, and we poured over it together\u2026and God moved again, and knit us all closer together even than we had been before<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We would go overseas\u2026and the grandparents came. So grateful for them\u2026and for the GOD who moves in our hearts.<\/p>\n

\"IMG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026last\u00a06 stones of remembrance in tomorrow\u2019s blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord<\/span>, that it is<\/i> mighty, that you may fear the Lord<\/span> your God forever.\u201d \u2013 Joshua 4:24<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard Owen Roberts \u2013 Blog by Matt Henry on his own encounter with him<\/a><\/p>\n

What Must I Do To Be Saved?<\/a><\/p>\n

Assurance of Salvation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Adapted from the Archives] \u201cCross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6\u00a0that this may be a sign among you when your children … Continue reading Stones of Remembrance – 12 Occasions Where We Saw God Act Mightily (Part 1)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[810,2126,1705,1000,3750,794,147,50,903,599,33,317,888,3752,887,1456,610],"tags":[4539,618,4538,889,893,898,4536,4537,891],"class_list":["post-13960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-good-gifts","category-community","category-conversations","category-easter-and-lent","category-explore-god","category-faithfulness","category-family-2","category-god","category-grace","category-heaven","category-inspired","category-lessons-learned","category-memories","category-purpose-in-life","category-remembering","category-steadfast-love","category-thanksgiving-or-gratefulness","tag-chad","tag-ebenezer","tag-memorial","tag-remembering","tag-richard-owen-roberts","tag-salvation","tag-spiritual-dryness","tag-spiritual-dullness","tag-stones-of-remembrance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-3Da","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13960"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32839,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions\/32839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}