Memorial Stones

Stones set up to remember the faithfulness of God. Oh, how many times the Israelites witnessed something awesome, saw their God show himself to be powerful and mighty. One specific time after displaying his power God told Joshua to take 12 rocks, once each for the twelve tribes of Israel, and set them up as a place of remembrance (Joshua 4:1-9). So any time their children saw them and asked they would remember what God had done.

This week (really it was last week- I am SO on top of things) at church we are talking with our kids about remembering times God has come through for us in times of need. I have shared with Kiersten, and I’ll do so again this week, about how God came through big time for my Beloved and I at the time of her birth.

You see, we were in the process of moving. The problem was the new jobs insurance wasn’t going to kick in until a full two weeks after Kiersten was due. Thankfully the old insurance was good for a month from the last day of employment. (Isn’t that a huge blessing right there?) This meant that while my Beloved went to another state, nearly 1,000 miles away, I was to remain behind and wait. Family was 70 miles or so away from the hospital and so I stayed with a wonderful friend as the time drew near.

We had known going into the summer that there was a huge possibility my Beloved would not make it back in time, once alerted, to be there for the birth of our first child. So what did we do? We prayed. Day in and day out we prayed.

My Beloved scheduled a flight up the week before I was due and could stay with me 5 days or so and then needed to return as school would be starting. We went to my weekly exam and just shared our concerns and asked what we could do. The doctor wasn’t for it but said they could induce me at the end of the week if I wanted. I just needed to show up at the hospital the night she would be on call.

Well, we mulled and prayed about inducing. But it just didn’t sit right with us. No matter what spin we put on it it just seemed like we were trying to yank control back from the very God who created this child. It became a control issue for us and not waiting and trusting in God’s perfect timing. So several days before the end of the week we had come to peace with just waiting on God’s timing.

Would you believe my water broke the very evening I would have been induced had we so chosen! Isn’t that just God? So a few hours later our sweet Kiersten girl entered the world to see both her Mom and Dad there. My Beloved was with us about 24 hours and then we drove him to the airport to head back to our new home alone.

Did God ever come through for us in our hour of need and show us just how much He cares for us or what?

We remember, Lord. Kiersten is one of our memorial stones. We haven’t forgotten and we thank you and praise you today for what you did in our yesterday.