I am hoping that you who are friends at A Place Called Simplicity are beginning to understand just how important a Memorial Box is. Here’s the idea behind it:
Ya’ know life was not easy for the Isrealites a couple of thousand years ago. Some of it was their own stupidity and some of it was just life. Reminds me of my life….some things have happened cause of my own stupidity and sometimes it’s just life. Either way, God told the Isrealities to take some stones and build a memorial with them. Then when their children said, “Hey why is that pile of stones there?” the parents were to tell them the story of just how God had shown up. {At the bottom you will find the scripture that I’m talking about.}
Obviously we are not going to be dragging a bunch of rocks around….so instead our family has a box on the wall that we are filling with little symbols from each and every time God has shown up for us. Sometimes He has miraculously provided. Sometimes He has miraculously healed. Sometimes He has moved a mountain. Sometimes He has moved an entire mountain range!! Sometimes He has protected with His miraculous power. Sometimes He has surprised us with something! But all of the things remind us that He IS our Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God!!!
I thought it would be fun to just have a giveaway today. I have been reorganizing {wait a second, to “reorganize” I think you have to first been organized – haha}…so as I was saying, I have been organizing this place while the bossman has been gone and lo and behold I have found several Memorial Boxes…so I thought today would be a great day to give one away!! {It is a small starter Memorial Box – a little antique sewing drawer that can be set on a shelf or if you are inclined to put hooks on the back it can be hung on a wall….either way, it’s sweet as a button – sewing drawer—button, get it??}
So here’s the rules:
First off, to post a link or enter the contest by commenting a story you must be a friend of mine {by ‘friend’ I mean you are following along at A Place Called Simplicity and your little picture is under the “follower” portion on the sidebar.} If you have not been a friend before, then today would be a great day to join in with all the friends here. If you wonder why I require you to be a “friend” {aka follower}….well I dunno…I guess cause if someone just wants a Memorial Box, but they don’t want to call themselves a friend, then it can almost just feel like they are merely “using” our family blog. Just imagine this: You have planned and worked hard and are having a party for your friends and random people happen to be driving down the street and see a bunch of people walking up to your home and decide they want to just come too and walk in to your house, eat your food and leave and don’t say anything to you….and you never saw them before in your life!! Hope that makes sense – at least I’m sure it does to all of my friends.
1. You can do a Memorial Box Monday link. You must display our Memorial Box Monday picture {available on the sidebar}…and you must link with a permalink. Permalink is explained below. {If you don’t connect with the permalink, I will be forced to delete your post.} You must also link your post back to here.
2. Maybe you don’t have a blog and/or would rather just leave a comment. The thing is that your comment must tell a story of something God did and what you would put in your Memorial Box to symbolize it. Or if you don’t know what you would put, you can ask for some ideas….cause then we can comment with ideas…
Last time I had a giveaway of a Memorial Box I just let people leave a comment. That was waaaaay, waaaaaaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaaaay too easy. This time you have to tell us a story of God’s faithfulness in your comment! His provision. His healing. Something He has done. Anything!!
Next week {probably} I am going to share a little story….let me tell you, it is the simplest story in the world of how God provided, but none-the-less I saw God’s hand and thanked Him and praised Him.
If you are not sure what Memorial Box stories are like, click on the Memorial Box words highlighed below or at the bottom of the sidebar under “labels”. You will find a whole bunch of Memorial Box Monday stories that our family has…
Lastly, now that I have explained Memorial Boxes again, let me just reiterate why we do this as a family. Last summer Dw, I and Liberty took Isaiah to Iowa City, Iowa for surgery. Prior to leaving Dw had been very, very sick. The kind of sick that worries a wife.
So here we were in Iowa, the morning after Isaiah’s surgery, and Dw phoned me from the parking deck where he was. He was coming up with Liberty from the Ronald McDonald house to see Isaiah. But when he phoned me he told me he did not know if he was going to make it up to the floor. He was, once again, throwing up and so weak he wasn’t sure he had the strength. I told him to bring me Liberty and head to the ER at the opposite side of the hospital.
Within hours Dw had been admitted as a patient. I was in Isaiah’s room with a little guy just having some pretty sizeable surgery and here was my husband desperately ill on the opposite side of the hospital in a city where we had never been before.
They rushed Dw to do a sonogram and he texted me that it was his liver. I am not a medical buff and I knew how sick he was and had been for weeks, he had already lost about 15 pounds!! I instantly was overcome with fear. What if my husband had liver cancer in this strange city? And I started to cry and pray.
Immediately the Lord said, “What is in your Memorial Box?” I stopped. At that moment symbols of the things God has done for us started parading past my mind…..like that time when we had no idea what was going to happen and God rescued us or the time when we had that mountain range called “the Chin*se Government” saying that Isaiah could not come home and Almighty God moved the entire commun*st government and they reversed their decision!! One by one I remembered HIS faithfulness as I pictured all those little symbols and I was overcome by peace. That did not mean that life was going to turn out picture perfect…but rather that Faithful God has always had my back and He was about to leave me high and dry in Iowa City, Iowa!!!!!
That’s why it’s so important friends….the Isrealites kept forgetting {just like we do}…unless we have a tangible reminder….
So please enter the contest by commenting a story….or do a Memorial Box Monday story on your blog and attach a link. {Sorry, old posts don’t count!!}
How do I enter a link to Memorial Box Monday?
Post the permalink from your blog below. A permalink is the URL to a specific blog post. In other words, each blog post has an address and the permalink is the street number and the avenue. For example, my blog address is http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/
But the permalink to this post is:
When does the Giveaway End?
I set the MckLinky to close on Friday….so you will have till then to post a permalink to your Memorial Box Monday on your blog OR to comment with a Memorial Box story….so get thinkin’ guys…I cannot begin to tell you how important it is!!
Joshua 4: 1-9
When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 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, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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.” 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. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been 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.
Linny!
God has done the same thing with me so many times! When I am struggling, one of the kids will 'need' something right by the box, or ask about something in it…and everything changes as I begin to remember God's faithfulness.
* I am a follower of you!!!!
* I have a Memorial Box but Doug's cousin is getting married and I've been looking for one to give them as a wedding present…
Thanks again for doing these!!!
Hugs,
Shannon
I'll try to make this short since it's a "comment". I drove alone with our 6 young children from the east coast to Tx by way of St Louis and back the same way (just under 4000 miles). My van was shaking a bit when I started out on the highway but I ignored it and kept driving. On my way back east, from St Louis, I stopped in Ky for the night. God put it on my heart to get the tire checked out. I had an allergic reaction to something and took benadryl that night. We were hoping to make it home the next day. I woke up still feeling miserable and ready to get home, but the urge to get the tire checked out wouldn't stop. I looked through the phone book and found a tire shop not too far away. When I went in he said all the tires looked okay, but one was a little worn in one spot so I could get a new tire and they would rotate them to help out the shaking. When they drove the van into the shop and saw the part of the tire they couldn't see before they called me into the back to show me the metal pieces of the tire that were showing through. There was no more rubber at all in that one spot. The guy said I would not have made it much farther on the tire before I had a blow out. I would have been driving through the mountains, with few places to stop when the tire blew. I thank God that I obeyed his nudging (that I had not obeyed the rest of the trip) and had the tire checked out. I have to admit as I sat in the tire shop, with all 6 kids:-) as I was thanking God for putting it on my heart to go to the tire shop I was thinking about what I would put in my memorial box…a small tire.
I started a Memorial Box because of you and one of the items inside is a small blue bracelet.
It's actually the bracelet Beth Moore suggests you make for the bible study "Believing God."
About 8 years ago, I moved from a town I loved with all my heart to a city in middle part of the country I that did not enjoy living in at all. To say I hated it would me an understatement, but I knew with all my heart that God had me in this city for a reason. That didn't stop me from mourning my beloved little town in the mountains. All the while I was crying and moaning, God was there saying, "Do you trust me? Do you trust me?"
I did, and in spite of my heartache and eventual bitterness, I followed the unlikely path he led me on. I work in media and the doors he threw open in the most miraculous ways still leave me speechless. A timely remark. An unexpected phone call. Unlikely connections. Jaw dropping "coincidences." Laughter at Starbucks. I found myself working with people I never would have imagined I'd ever meet. How? It was only God.
Today, I'm writing this from my home studio in the little mountain town I love, 1700 miles away from that big city that ultimately I grew to at least like because I know and remember that God was and is there.
And why the bracelet from a Beth Moore bible study? Let's just say she likes Peppermint Hot Chocolate at Starbucks.
There are so many stories I could tell. I LOVE your idea of a Memorial Box. I've just gotten married and have begun to think of ways we will teach our children (to-be-someday) about the Lord. I think the Memorial Box is an amazing way to teach your children about the love and faithfulness of the Lord. I just imagine sitting down with my kids, getting out one of the objects and telling them how amazing God is to us.
Anyway, hmmm….which story? About three years ago I was in nursing school. I was finishing up one of my clinical rotations in a hospital we'll call Hospital X. On one of the very last days of clinical I made a clinical error and as a result a week later was expelled from nursing school. I was devastated.
(For background, I was in an accelerated 2 year nursing program and was 4 months away from finishing. Classes from an accelerated program don't transfer…ANYWHERE. So, I was looking at the last 18 months counting for nothing academically, having to pay my full tuition for which I had had a full scholarship and repeating nursing school….IF another school would accept me. Let me repeat…I was devastated.)
My school has an appeals process, but I was told by the administration not to even bother appealing because "these decisions on a mistake like yours have never been overturned." I cried for 7 days, then I got angry and filed my appeal on the last day that I was allowed. Then I prayed, cried and prayed until my appeal.
My appeal was about 3-6 weeks later (I don't remember the actual timeframe) and it went great. I had SUCH a peace from the Lord, said what I knew I needed to in order to defend myself, asked them to be fair and trusted the Lord.
I had to wait 4 weeks until I found out the results.
Whaddya know? They repealed my decision and I was let back into the school, when they said I'd never be able to.
THEN they told me that although the school let me back in, Hospital X would have to let me back in for clinical. If they would not, I would not be able to complete nursing school at any nursing school in my city. SO, again I trusted the Lord, asked my church to pray and waited to hear from Hospital X.
A few weeks after that and the answer was back! Hospital X agreed to allow me back into their hospital for clinical!! YAAAAAAAAY!
I ended up graduating nursing school. Isn't that amazing?!? Throughout my entire story, EVERYONE told me that all this was a waste of time and I just shouldn't bother. I should just pick a new career….but I trusted the Lord to move this mountain, and He did. He is SO SO SO SO SO faithful.
To add a cherry on top, I ended up being hired as an RN in Hospital X. It was my first pick in my city for a hospital to work at, but I never thought I'd actually get hired there due to this error in nursing school. But AGAIN, the Lord is a miracle worker.
I have been working there for 3 years now and I absolutely love it. He is good.
i was 5 months pregnant and due for the BIG ultrasound. i was so excited! the sunday before i was visiting my family and my home church when from the stage, during worship, the song leader started singing a word from God. it caught my attention as he sang "baby girl, baby girl, don't worry. don't worry. i haven't let you down yet." if you heard "baby girl" being sung from your church stage, i bet your ears would perk up too. i thought it a little odd but quickly forgot it.
48 hours later i sat in an ultrasound room as the radiologist told me that my little baby girl had a cyst in her brain. my little baby girl we tried for TWO YEARS to conceive, may i add. a cyst is sometimes synonymous with a life threatening syndrome. suddenly who i thought my tiny girl was, was not who she might be and i felt so lost.
of course my husband and i prayed and all we could do is wait for the next ultrasound in a few days.
that night however, i woke up in the middle of the night and like a flood came those words spoken the sunday before, "baby girl, baby girl, don't worry. i haven't let you down yet." God had spoken a word to my unborn little girl.
the next ultrasound proved that she did not have the syndrome and later ultrasounds showed the cyst was gone!
in my box (which i don't yet have but WILL start whether i win the contest or not!) is the 3D ultrasound picture from the day she was shown to not have this syndrome!
she is now 4 and as feisty and wonderful as ever!
erika
i just sumbitted my story but i don't see it. did you get it?
erika
Just linked up!!! I am going to try and participate every Monday!! Because as you said. . remembering God's faithfulness in the past reminds us that He is in control of the future. . and as we step out in this Ethiopian adoption, I need to be reminded of that! Thanks for the inspiration. I did 2 posts for my readers. . one explaining what a Memorial Box is and then the post I linked here sharing a God story.
Thanks for the time and energy you give your blog. It speaks life to me.
Warmly-
Su Soutter
Raleigh, NC
I would LOVE to enter for this giveaway!!
Here's my story: In the late 90s, when I was in between marriages and had no health insurance, I became sick with sore swollen glands in my throat with white spots on them. I couldn't afford to go to the doctor or buy a prescription medication. I laid my hands on my neck before I went to bed and prayed for God's healing. When I woke up in the morning, my throat was fine!! Praise God!
Here's a story–I guess it's really more of my mom's story since I was a kid, but I remember it happening, and I use it often to remind me of how good God is! My mom was taking my brothers and me alone down to visit my grandpa in another state. We were far from home and had stopped at a rest stop. My mom had put her purse on top of the car, forgot about it, got in, and away we went. We were already on the highway when she remembered it. She couldn't turn around for a while. I remember her yelling to us kids, "Pray! Pray!" as we sped down the road. So we did. Soon we got off and got to a place we could turn around. We were waiting to turn left and there was a lot of traffic. All of a sudden a lady came up to my mom's window with her purse in her hand. She asked my mom if her name was Wyatt, which was strange because that is her maiden name. My mom said yes, took the purse, thanked her, turned her head for a second, and when she turned around again, she was gone. True story!! I would put a little purse of some sort in my memorial box. : )
Hi Linny,
I love when you do these giveaways!! i have been looking for a memorial box for sometime now, and havent been able to fine the right one…
So my story is from this past week, my husband has lost his job its been over a month now. feels like forever! I also had just gotten out of the hospital, i was lower than i had been in a really long time and was just praying and begging HE would show me His love in a tangible way… i needed to physically feel His presence! The following day i was curled up on the couch feeling sorry for myself and my hubby came running in the house shouting with tears! he was waving around an envelope! He said it was the only one in the mailbox… he handed it to me and i opened it to see a beautiful card that said "from all of us" and had 200$ in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no name, no return address… NOTHING! i knew immediately that this was the answer to my prayer! with tears in my eyes i looked at my hubbby and said ofcourse there was no return address… there isnt one for HEAVEN! 🙂 i have since cut out the signed part of the card to put in out future memorial box…
*i am a follower btw 🙂
Blessings
Liz
Well I've already told you what our first Memorial box item would be with my incessant texts I bombard you with. 😉 But with the nightmare CPS issue a few weeks ago, it would absolutely be the social worker's business card that I still can't bear to look at. To remind me that God loves my children a million times more than even I do, and that He always has their back. I knew He had my back, but I think somehow I forgot that He has theirs too. And boy was I scared! But, as always, as only He can do, He displayed His mighty hand and came through. And it was a miracle. What began as the most frightening time of my life, God used for His glory. I am so, so thankful.
Oh Linney! I was going to be one of those "lurkers" again today … but now I know I have to come back and post a Memorial Box Monday (on a Tuesday) because of so much. Remember (as if you wouldn't) the post you did about Crazy Love? Well, I read it and was moved … really moved. I stepped out of my comfort zone (WAY outta it!) to host a fundraiser for someone who wants to adopt a sweet, sweet girl. Now, I worked hard, prayed lots, got the goods for the give-away, bumped heads with my husband who when I asked for his blessing BEFORE I accepted the position supported me, but then afterwards had doubts and concerns on it all, prayed some more and felt so at peace that yes, this was what God had called me to do … but now here I sit in worry about when God is going to show up. waiting … waiting … waiting … getting a little bit worried … no. a whole lot worried. Only one person has donated! But then I read your post today and I am in tears. In my heart I wanted confirmation that somehow something in there was for me, a little something to hold onto as I wait. Some encouragement from God, even a little detail left just for me. And then I read in your intro about your encouragement link on your sidebar (which I need to check out yet) and then your post. No, it wasn't the actual story but a detail that perhaps means so little to anyone else, but is something to me … you see … out of the entire planet where you could have been for Isaiah's surgery, you were in Iowa City, IA–about an 45 minutes away from me! And that's a big deal. I mean, who ever comes to Iowa?! I wish I would have known you then, wish I could have helped you out, given you a hug, some support! Oh my goodness you must have been scared!! But … God was there, you were not alone and regardless of if I would have been there, He was and it was exactly where He needed you, dependent on Him. So, I guess I just feel so moved because I feel his hand reassuring me that He's here now too, with me … in Iowa … right where I need to be at this very moment, scared a little silly, but clinging with confidence that even though the outcome of the fundraiser may not be what I imagined, but it is what He imagined and planned and will work with to do His will. Thank you Linney for challenging us all to act out in Crazy Love and also for giving praise for all God's love over us even when we feel alone! We're not.
Blessings!
Valerie
Last summer, just the kids and I camped north of Orlando. Leaving Sea World at dusk the first day, the heavens opened up and it was raining and thundering like I had never seen. When we got to the car, I put the key in the ignition and tried starting it and no response – just the one click you hear when your battery is dead as a doorknob. I tried it about 4 times knowing that each time I was draining whatever juice was left in the battery. No AAA and we didn't know anybody in Orlando. What to do? My children and I held hands and we prayed earnestly for God's protection. Right after that I turned the key and it started without hesitation!! Totally God's provision.
We got to the campground and parked it and figured the next day we would go and get a new battery. The next day again dead as a doorknob. So we held hands again and prayed and I turned the key and NOTHING. Hmm, what to do? Ye of little faith starting telling my children that we were at camp safe and we had a phone and blah blah and as I look in the rearview mirror there is a man walking towards us from two camps down with cables and a battery. God totally provides for us in ways that we never expect!!! Thank you Lord for ALWAYS having our backs (even when we doubt).
I LOVE this! It's exciting to see how much God is working in people!
I added my link, and I follow through bloglines, but I'm trying to follow officially but so far it's not letting me….
hopefully it will soon!
OK – I might just do both – permalink and this but this for now while I have time.
About four years ago the youth group I helped to lead decided to take a missions trips to the mountains in Tennessee. While I was excited to go on my first missions trip I was VERY nervous. You see, I have a terrible fear of heights and at the time was dealing with terrible anxiety issues. The idea of driving up a mountain or being in places of such varying height (compared to the flatlands of Florida lol) was not desirable to me, but rather than run from Ninevah I forced myself to go. Somewhere in the middle of the trip my heart was changed. God showed me how He had loved and cared for me in the hardest times of my life. He showed me a glimpse of a time in my life when I felt completely alone and hurt and showed me that He hurt for me there. For some reason that increased my trust in Him to hold me and I went from shaking every car ride to whooping it up and shouting in joy at every curve and turn up the crazy roads to the waterfalls (where we bathed during the day). I was soon running down cliffs in excitement at how God was so present. I have not been the same person I was before the trip since and God has shown himself to me in many other occasions since. I grabbed some pebbles off the mountain to remember the time God held me on the mountain and I keep them on my bookshelf as a sort of memorial box, along with the pebbles I had grabbed a piece of driftwood which I had picked up as it floated past me in the rapids. It reminded me of my favorite movie at the time (end of the spear) and though it was a small waterlogged piece of wood I called it my spear, and that also sits next to the pebbles on my bookshelf as a reminder of the time God brought me away from fear.
Makes me happy to talk about and remember that time. Your story also touched me.
God bless 🙂
http://journey2ethiopia.blogspot.com
Hello Linny,
I've been unofficially following your blog for a while, and your writing is truly uplifting. Today, I became an official follower, and I'd like to pay for the shipping for whoever wins the memorial box. Please contact me at rideaqh at hotmail dot com.
Grace and peace,
Shannon
I just love reading these amazing stories of how God supplies more then we need!
I live here in Durango, and the most memorial box story is from one of my college classes, a music appreciation class that I was required to attend a classical concert and it had to have music in it that we had studied in class, ie: all of the old era's of music, including the romantic era. It turned out this semester was the most insane semester of my college career, all of my classes were short classes which meant that the work was crammed into a shorter schedule and I am the single mama of a 18mth old who is insanely jealous of anything that takes away my attention, including my computer which I do all of my school work on, and there was a sudden death in our family, actually a dear friends son was murdered and he was unable to handle the arrangements for the service and such, so I stepped in and that too was a ton of work. All in all, I forgot all about the concert attendance assignment (which was worth a full 20% of our grade. At the last minute I started searching the internet high and low, praying for something close but invisioning myself driving to denver for one school assignment, I couldn't find anything, anywhere in Colorado…then I thought "check in NM" and low and behold there was a concert coming up in a week, just days before the assingment was due and it was titled "Romantic Classics" all songs from the romantic era of classical music. Something so small, yet so big to me at the time. Thank you God! Anyways, I have been saving the ticket stub to put in my memorial box when I get one. <3
I love the idea of a Memorial Box because when you are in the midst of God providing you think that you will never forget that moment. But we still do.
A few years ago my husband and I were facing one of those life altering events. He had been laid off from work in a small town in OK that did not have much opportunites for engineers. We had two little ones and I remember doing dishes and telling God that I wanted to trust Him fully, but I didn't want to be in a place where I HAD to trust Him fully. =) I was stressed and praying for God to show us the way to walk. During that time, our pastor and a small group moved to Boulder, CO to take over a church. We tagged along for moving day to help work on their house and provide free labor. Have you ever visited a place a knew it was home? We took the kids for a hike and fell in love. Our little boy said: mommy, lets go home and get my toys and then come right back here. Driving home my husband and I both realized that we had felt the same prompting-go home, sell your house and be back in about a month. Which seemed an impossible time frame and task for us. So we laughed and said, Okay God, you will have to do it. A couple of days after we got home, a lady from church called and asked if we were moving. (we had not told anyone, yet) Yes, we are. Well, God told me to buy your house. We hesitated and asked her if she wanted to at least come look at it first. Nope, she didn't. She felt quite sure that God was speaking to her and that was enough. The amount she could afford was the amount that we had in our spirits to sell it for. We moved out, they moved in and we were on our way in about a month! Our move was filled with Someone greater than us filling in the gaps and carrying our burdens the whole way. But those are stories for another day.
OK, I just saw that I did my post wrong. I'll have to rewrite it and repost it.
It's just been that kind of week ya know? LOL We have Youth church camp coming up and we have prayed that our cabin will be FULL this year!
And….now it's almost full, however, there are only *2* of us adult ladies in there with 21 teenage girls ranging in ages 11-18!! So, needless to say, my mind is INSANE with preparing for that in 2 weeks! YIKES!
Thanks for stopping by, Linny! We're still waiting for the potential buyer to come look at it. I sort of have a feeling that God is trying to teach me something else here, too. We had it SPOTLESS last Thursday, went on a weekend vacation, and have been in the house all week. Needless to say it is NOT spotless any more! LOL I told people God could sell it clean, dirty, on the market, or not. I think He's holding me to it! 🙂
About the Mbox, just speaking in faith–smile!! We seem to be doing that so much more lately. We've started our adoption paperwork for a little girl who's file hasn't even been started lately… It's becoming a habit I like!