Showered by Grace
“The hand of the LORD is mighty.”
Joshua 4:24 (ESV)
Throughout my teaching, speaking, and writing, I encourage women to remember and record their family’s memorial stone stories.
Memorial Stones are reminders that God is our Rock (Psalm 18:1), a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). A memorial stone event occurs when we face a seemingly impossible situation, but we step out in faith and obedience. God then delivers us in His own miraculous way. The result is that we get the victory; God gets the glory; and we then have “our story for His glory.”
Ask any of my children for an Evans’ memorial stone story and you will get just one answer: “The diapers.”
Our youngest and fourth child was born in late January 1988. Two weeks after Daniel’s birth, it was time to write our monthly tithe check. My husband was taking our older two children to church that Sunday morning while I stayed home with the baby and three-year-old James Bruce. Right before he left, Bruce asked me to write our tithe check.
“Bruce, we’re in trouble,” I replied. “We can eat and tithe; we can eat and do diapers for two kids; or we can tithe and do diapers, but we can’t eat, tithe, and do diapers. There’s just no way.”
Bruce was unwavering, “Write the check. God knows where we are.”
“And where we are is in trouble,” I insisted as I grudgingly wrote our tithe check.
Later that day, I kept worrying before finally praying, “Lord we’re in trouble. Bruce says You know where we are, but where we are is in trouble. Please help us.”
Truthfully in my mind and heart, I had two possible solutions. God would send us extra money to cover our increased budget needs (that always works!!), or He would miraculously and quickly potty train four-year-old James Bruce. Of my two possible solutions, I preferred the latter, but truthfully, I doubted God’s ability or willingness to do either.
The next afternoon found me nursing the baby in our living room rocker as Bruce got home from work. Opening the front door, Bruce laughed as he said, “Donna, come out to the driveway. I’ve got a surprise for you!’
“I’m nursing the baby,” I protested.
“Bring the baby,” Bruce said firmly.
Grudgingly I quit nursing Daniel, wrapped him tightly in his blanket, and groused as I went outside to the driveway.
Standing beside his old 1978 blue pick-up truck, Bruce proudly displayed his big surprise. The whole back of the truck’s long bed was loaded with baby diapers! Huggies, Luvs, Pampers, and generic diapers of all different kinds and sizes were piled so high that I was surprised none of them had fallen out on the trip home from school.
“Where did these come from???” I asked incredulously.
“The faculty,” Bruce laughed. “They gave me a surprise baby shower after school this afternoon and said, “Every Dad deserves to be pampered!”
I began weeping with gratitude and joy. God not only pampered us with diapers; He showered us with grace. This was truly a holy ground moment for me personally and for us as a family. We didn’t buy a single diaper for four months even with two children using them.
Joshua 4 records a memorial stone event in the early life of the toddler nation of Israel. Following forty years of wilderness wandering, Israel enters the long-awaited Promised Land after God miraculously parts the waters of the Jordan River. After the Israelites successfully cross the river, God commands Joshua to take twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel, from the middle of the river and build a monument. The memorial stones will serve as a reminder and testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision. It will also be a teaching tool for future generations as they remember Who God is and what He has done.
Israel built the Jordan River memorial, but they didn’t stop there. They recorded their story throughout Old Testament. Scholar Ralph Davis writes, “It is memory that keeps gratitude fresh, and that gratitude keeps faith faithful… We stand in the present, but dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future.”
What about you? When have you “punched faith’s replay button” (Davis) by remembering God’s faithfulness in your own life or family? What are you doing to keep gratitude fresh or to keep faith faithful?
May we all have our stories for God’s glory and like Samuel declare, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)