I am so excited it is Memorial Box Monday! I am so stinkin’ excited that 8 of the Memorial Boxes that were won are speeding their way (via Federal Express) to their new homes (the other two will be shipped tomorrow)! The 8 should arrive tomorrow and then these sweet friends will begin to fill it with stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives – Yippee Jesus!!
I am also beside myself giddy that my sweet bloggy friend Scrappy Quilter bought a Memorial Box the other day and is joining in posting about it. I have received emails from other friends who are starting their own…..I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Dear friends, I cannot impress on you enough the importance of a Memorial Box in your lives. I was telling a young dad outside church yesterday that I believe that from the start of a marriage, if young couples begin by (1) knowing each other’s love language and (2) having a Memorial Box and filling it, they will be off to a far better start then those who don’t. When we practice remembering all God has done and how He has worked in our lives and been completely faithful – – it builds our faith and encourages faithfulness in our lives!
Anyway, today’s Memorial Box Monday post is kind of a part 2 to a previous post: A Treasure Found! I intended to tell ‘the rest of the story’ back when I told Part 1 but Tyler soon announced he was getting married (in 2 weeks!) and so we spent June getting ready for the wedding and then we left for Iowa, and well, you know, that was an “adventure” (to say the least)….and in all the flurry of stuff I forgot to tell the rest of the story…..
For a little background:
After the fire we slowly parted with most of everything left in the rest of the house because it was either charred or so smoke damaged it was unable to be kept. It was a painful process. It is one thing to give away or sell most of your things (since this is your choice) but it is something entirely different to not have a choice in the matter and have it taken away……downright gut-wretching and not-so-fun. Anyway, in May we went to our little log home to watch the remainder of it be demolished.
That morning as I walked around inside the house having one last look, I prayed, “Lord, please help us to find anything that is important to us that we would want, that we just haven’t been able to find yet.” When I was praying that, unbeknownst to me, the Lord had two sweet surprises in store for us that day….how fun is that?
Shortly after the fire a friend had (with the permission of the Electrical company) hooked up a temporary box to supply some electricity to us. We had a couple of lights that we would move about to help us see in the dark, smoked and soot ruined rooms.
But this final morning the lights were all gone. I walked carefully through the house. (Didn’t have a flashlight, but have one now thanks to the Skunk story, compliments of my friend Lisa from WA who mailed me one and said she was game to go feed the kitties too – crazy friend!! xo).
Anyway, as I was walking thru what remained of our dark log home one last time I kept praying….”Lord, please help me to find anything important if we are forgetting it or haven’t seen it.” We had been in the house so much it was hard to imagine that in the now empty log home there was anything overlooked, but I was kind of troubled at the thought that maybe we would be leaving something behind. I also tried hard to remember, “Had I hidden anything in the house?” It is the weirdest, creepiest feeling, totally overwhelming, knowing you will never see this home, that held such precious memories again. Ever.
I went upstairs in the loft. I looked at closely as I could. I went in the corner of the loft, over near where Dw’s desk had been. It was so dark. All of a sudden I saw something glint on the window ledge. It truly was so dark I had no idea what it was. I picked it up and as I picked it up I immediately dropped it. I bent to feel for it and felt something very large and straining to see, I gasped!! Oh sweet Jesus – you are sooooo good to me!!!! There was the little clay figurine of two dogs that Dw had made as a little boy. It was one of our most favoritest things – made by him about 50 years ago. A total treasure!! I scooped it up.
Now friends, it is completely miraculous that God showed me that. But do you know what else is miraculous? The glinty thing on the window ledge that I picked up and immediately dropped? Yeah, well, I could never find it. I groped and groped and groped. I believe with all my heart that the Lord put something non-essential there on the window ledge so I could pick it up, drop it and find the precious dogs. I am 100% certain. No one will ever convince me otherwise.
Why would He do that? Because He is my Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God and He loves to work on my behalf every single day. So in our Memorial Box will go this sweet dog clay figurine made by my Whitey many years ago, for now though it sits here beside my computer on my kitchen counter, reminding me daily of God’s love for us. We lost so much when our home burned. But we have a couple of treasures that remind us of God’s complete faithfulness through it all……like the miracle shoes, and the sign and the straight edge and now the dogs.
What’s in your Memorial Box? or What would you put in your Memorial Box if you had one? And yes, we will be having another contest before long…..wait till you hear about where I am going to find one!! xo
PS…..If you are new to A Place Called Simplicity or have never heard of a Memorial Box, it is explained here.
Linny,
My husband and I celebrated our Anniversary yesterday, we have been married for 23 yrs.
We didnt have any particular plans yesterday, except to spend the day together,with uninterupted conversation like we did when we were dating. I told him I was going to pray about what to do on our special day, just throw it out there and ask the Lord what He would have us do.(i knew if it came from the Lord it would be just that…SPECIAL.)
I didnt hear Him speak to me until the morning of our Anniversary and the idea came to me that we could search for our very own Memorial box. We have so many things to be thankful for, so many moments where the Lord has made us take a step back and just be in awe!
So that is what we did, now we didnt find one yesterday, but we had a great time looking, and spending this precious time together. And I know the Lord will lead us to one in His time, and it will be perfect!
Thank you!
How wonderful is our God to even care about what seems to be a small thing! God is the God of all that is Big & Small! 🙂
I'm as excited as you are Linny. And to have found my memorial box yesterday. Now I'm on the hunt for little things ….like a little telephone. You'll hear about that next Monday. What a precious way to be reminded daily of God's faithfulness down through the years.
What a beautiful gift God gave you in finding those 2 dogs. I just love this story and His faithfulness!! Hugs
WHEEERRRE your going to find one??? Could it be in INDIANA???????
WHOOP WHOOP Jesus! (My version of yipee Jesus!)
Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! So I guess I need to start working on next Monday's.
Hey, tell Emma that we just bought a huge lot of things at an auctions and we found lots of beanie babies in the stuff. Most of the beanie babies are still in a package. So they are hers to take to her precious babies.
Wow, what an amazing story. But they are – every Monday! I really, really need to go find my own, now that I know I didn't win one ;-))
Much love, Barb
Neat-o!
I love Monday's thanks to you(even though I didn't get here until Tuesday)I'm on the hunt for a Memorial Box, I'm not rushing I want it to be perfect, plus it has to be near free. Yard sale season is upon us so maybe I'll find something special.
I am so glad you found those little dogs. What a treasure.
I so agree about the need to remember the things God has done for us *personally*. The boxes are such a beautiful way to do that. In our home, on the evening starting God's Sabbath (Friday nights)we go around the dinner table one at a time to tell a story of what God did for us that week. This tradition has helped us all be on the 'lookout' for the miraculous during the week. I look forward to incorporating the boxes in what we already do…to remember!
If you were able to make this image into a button with HTML for us to copy and paste…I'd be happy to put it on my blog so that it links to yours.