What are your Joshua Stones?

 Today is a good day for remembering and reflecting...

When I was a kid walking along our lane or the gravel road by our house, my gaze would gravitate to my feet and the countless stones on the ground.  I would pick up the most interesting ones and they would be part of "my collection."  I think most of us have had a similar experience at one time or another.

Today I am not collecting real stones (however, you could do that), but I am considering those Joshua stones in my life.  The thought is based on the Scripture below from Joshua 4.  God asked the Israelites to do this, and He gives His rationale clearly:  let this be a mark of who I AM, and what I can do in your life.

Joshua 4

New International Version (NIV)

4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, ³ and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
⁸ So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been^[a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

We, too, need these reminders of who God is and what He has done in our lives.  I am considering my Joshua Stones today:

• My parents and family:  farm life, 14 brothers and sisters, mom who was "religious" and dad who "talked to God at home"
• My baptism (I grew up Lutheran but was not baptized as an infant.  I was baptized in seventh grade after nagging my parents.)
•  Giving a message to the senior citizens at the nursing home when I was in high school (Our Sunday school went there once a month to provide a church service, the person who was scheduled didn't show up so I filled in.)
• Meeting my amazing husband while in college
• Meeting his parents who loved the Lord and are a huge part of my walk with the Lord (May Janice be blessed for being a prayer warrior.)
• Being blessed with two beautiful girls
• Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior
• Being blessed with two more children 

 Those are the biggies.  There are so many "pebbles" along the way and I am not meaning to diminish any of them here.  There are just too many to mention.  Because, quite simply, God has been with me every step of the way.  God provided the Israelites manna each day: each morsel could be considered a pebble.  God has sent countless people into my life to guide me.  God has given me opportunities beyond belief, and thankfully He has let His prescence be known in the good times and the bad.

Today as I walk and take a look at various stones in the path, I also take note of the Joshua Stones and the pebbles that show me without a doubt that God is exactly who He says He is:  The great I AM!