The Box in the Corner

It sits in the corner of the freshly painted niche which Dw just finished in our new home,
surrounded by pictures from almost 35 years of marriage
and 12 {plus} children later
and now some treasured grandchildren join the wall as well.
Cream in color, wooden, rather large, kind of rustic, a framed wire door 
and a little matching paddle that holds it closed.
It’s placement is strategic in our home.
Actually every home we’ve lived in, we think long and hard as to the placement.
We are confident that it must have “center stage”, if you will. 
Why such ado about a big wooden box?

Well it’s actually not just any box, but rather our Memorial Box and truly, more than the box – 
It’s the treasures inside the box that are of significant sentimental “value”!

We call it our Memorial Box as we’ve filled it with precious {to us} trinkets that represent an altering event in our family’s life which afforded Almighty God the opportunity to show His miraculous healing, provision, protection or intervention.  There are some amazing miracle stories to be told as we sift our way through each item {still rebuilding after we lost the house in the fire}!

Many may have never heard of the idea of chronicling events in the form of trinkets stored in a special place.  We got the idea, years ago, after reading how God told the Isrealites to build an alter of stones to Him as a Memorial of what He had just done for them.  Then He actually told them to tell the story to their children over and over and then their children’s children and so on.  We are never to forget what He, alone, has done!

We all know how it is – we can be so doggone forgetful.  Barely a few days have passed and monumental events of God’s faithfulness fade into soon forgotten distant memories.

No doubt, we all have been guilty of front row seats to watching God intervene is both monstrous events and also teeny-tiny events and then poof{!} the memory disappears and becomes like vapor.
Unless…

We purposefully record them in a practical and tangible way.

For years at our Place Called Simplicity on most Mondays I would share yet another story from our family’s personal Memorial Box.  By exposing our personal lives to all of you {even you lurkers – ha!} our only prayer was that you would be reminded of the faithfulness of God in your own personal lives, that you would be encouraged to record your own stories and in the process build all of our faith!

The rest season from Memorial Box Monday has been long enough and Lord has been prompting me to get back at it.  So my plan is to take the first Monday of each month and make it Memorial Box Monday.  I would love to see others link their stories as well.  I have been encouraged by so many I have read!

Several stories stand out at a quick glance in my mind:  Renee’s story from the Philippines, Lyn’s story of the stormy night in northern Colorado when her car broke down and Rachel’s story {although she left it as a comment}from their first to Ch*na where a stranger on the flight ministered to them in a powerful way.  There are many others, but for me, these three each built my faith in significant ways.

Yesterday night I had talked to Emma.  She was getting up.  I was supposed to be heading to bed.  Instead I felt impressed by the Lord that I needed to stay up and pray through the night.  I had never done that before and since being sick for the previous few days I couldn’t imagine I could last the night.  Yet I knew God wanted me to pray fervently for our Emma and a situation she was encountering.

While praying through the night {and by the way, my kitchen counter has never looked so clean and there is nothing like praying out loud while cleaning with a lot of elbow grease – ha!} the Lord brought to mind some of the items in our Memorial Box at different points in prayer.  It was as though He was taking me on a Memorial path as I prayed through Emma’s situation.

My faith was built as I remembered.

My peace became steadfast.

My heart became confidant.

How about you?

Does your faith falter you at times?

Do you wonder if God can do “it”?

Or if God will do “it”?

The more times I remind myself of God’s past faithfulness the less often I stumble in my faith.

There is no doubt, for me at least, that the times of faltering are less often as I intentionally remember more often.

So today, as I shared my wall and my personal Memorial box, my encouragement is to begin to think about His faithfulness through the stories where He has met you in a real and personal way.  Record them.  Or buy a Memorial Box and fill yours as well.  Then join me each first Monday of the month and let’s remember His faithfulness together.  Because at least speaking for our family, we never, ever tire of hearing of our Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God and all He has done without any effort.

21 thoughts on “The Box in the Corner

  1. Thanks for sharing. I'm looking for that special box for our home too. I have our treasures set aside until I can find the perfect place for them.

    1. Amy,
      I don't know what kind you are looking for, but I am beginning a little virtual store and have several…they are each unique and beautiful….and the money from the proceeds will go to my favorite missionary {my Emmy!}…if you want to take a peek at them, let me know.

  2. Yahoo! Our Memorial Box is right inside our front door at eye level for the kids. The other day Ravenna started asking me out of the blue to tell her more stories of God's faithfulness…re-telling them to her reminded me of how I have not written recent ones down…looking for to Memorial Box MOndays again!

  3. What a timely post! I am just setting up for Passover, when we re-tell the story of how G-d brought us out of Egypt, and we Jews are enjoined to tell the story as if G-d brought us personally out of Egypt, not just our ancestors. Which, of course, he does. Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim, which literally means the narrow places….

    As I set up I have all kinds of beautiful mementos, including things made by my son, and Sesame Street finger puppets of Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh which we had when Passover fell on his third birthday (and instead of Moses and Aaron running from Pharaoh, he insisted that they should all run away together!). Thank you for providing some more to think abut on this holiday when we especially celebrate G-d's provisions!

    1. My sweet friend Penny, The kids and I study the old testament during our lessons each day…the stories are timeless and show God's mighty power. May God bless you this Passover. xo

  4. Great idea, Linnt to have it the first Monday of the month. Great post today…..and I'm going to go re-read my post on the Philippines myself!
    Keeping Emma close in prayer….

  5. I guess I never thought of your box like, less display, more chest -like. It's beautiful! But I can't help asking, what's the Tony the Tiger represent? 🙂

  6. I have one as well, though yours is much more beautifully displayed! I love telling my children stories of what God has done, through the little "trinkets" saved. It was great meeting you at the sale the other day. I hope you have a blessed week!

    1. Jamie it was such a blessing to meet you the other day. Thank you for paying it forward to us…God definitely crossed our paths for a purpose! Thankful you are my "neighbor"

  7. Great story! I think I'll create something similar… it's soooo important to remember. My jewelry shop is based on a similar concept. It's even called "Stones of Remembrance." I love wearing "remembrance" jewelry and keeping a word, scripture or phrase handy as a constant reminder of what God is saying to me in a particular season. Here's the link, just in case you're curious. : ) https://www.etsy.com/shop/StonesofRemembrance?ref=si_shop
    Thanks for sharing your Memorial Box idea!

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