Memorial

There are so many things I want to see with my brown eyes before I go to Heaven. The Washington Monument, the Statute of Liberty, the Great Wall of China, the Vietnam Wall, the Grand Canyon, a white Christmas... My list is quite long and if I sat here long enough I could fill this entire page up with things I want to see for myself. Not that I don't believe they exist I just want to be able to see it, touch it, smell it, feel it.

Memorials are really great things. They remind us of a time when something great happened. They make us stop and think for just a brief moment what it would be like if that one thing in history had never happened. What if...?

Sometimes in our lives we build memorials and monuments to various things. They aren't visible to the naked eye but they are there. Umbrellas for instance! When I see an umbrella I think about my Grannie. She had horrible skin cancers and rain or shine she had to carry an umbrella. Oh...and bread! My Grandma would make homemade bread and every time I smell bread cooking I think of her. Maybe those are trivial but to me...they are memorials. Memories of people in my life who have molded me, changed me, loved me.

Joshua built a memorial alongside the Jordan River right where they passed on dry land. He explained to the Israelites "In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:21-24 (NLT).

God stopped the water from flowing and dried the riverbed so that his people could go across unscathed and Joshua wanted to leave a reminder to the world about God's greatness and protection. The Grand Canyon is a wonderful creation of God. It's not a man-made memorial but a God made memorial of his greatness. The Vietnam Wall is a man-made tribute to men and women who gave everything they had for freedom...their lives. What sort of memorial am I leaving behind? When my short time here on earth is finished what sort of rocks will you see? Is my memorial man-made or God made? Am I leaving a memorial at all? What about you?