Memorial Box Monday

Today I happily begin my Memorial Box Monday posts ~

My friend Linny, over at "A Place Called Simplicity" is the one who introduced me to the idea of a Memorial Box. She explains it in detail here, if you'd like to go see for yourself. Go see, you are sure to be blessed!

The idea of a Memorial Box is based on Joshua 4 . . .

Joshua 4 (New King James Version)

The Memorial Stones

¹ And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: ² “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’⁷ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹² And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³ About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵ Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. ¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. ²¹ Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; ²³ for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

So our Memorial Box will be the equivalent of the stones that the children of Israel obediently set as a reminder to their children. Permanent, tangible reminders of God's faithfulness and mighty works! We will fill our Memorial Box with symbols that will represent the stories of the many times that the Lord has moved mountains that needed moving . . . brought healing to our household . . . been our great Provider . . . given us the desires of our hearts . . . and preformed miracles just for US! We will be able to look at these treasures and be reminded of all of the times the Lord has moved powerfully on our behalves, showering us graciously in His love. Our children will know of His great works!

Here is my first story ~

The Giveaway

Months ago my friend Linny announced a giveaway on her blog. For those who aren't familiar with Linny's story, Linny's family lost their cozy log cabin (their precious "Place Called Simplicity") to a horrible fire last January. Linny and Dwight's Memorial Box would now need to be replaced due to the fire. Linny, with her giving heart decided that she would search for TWO Memorial Boxes, one for her family, and another to give away. Her heart's desire was to see another family begin to "memorialize" what the Lord had done for them!

So the search was on . . . and on . . . and on! Until finally one day Linny announced that she had indeed found, not one, but two boxes for her great giveaway. Time was ticking, and Linny encouraged anyone who hadn't entered the giveaway (by leaving her a comment) to enter. The deadline was set. About that time, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, I don't think I've ever entered this sweet little contest." (And maybe I had, but she'd been taking comments for longer than my memory is.) So I entered.

Linny announced that the drawing would take place soon. Checking . . . checking . . . checking that blog. On August 11th came the long awaited post, "And the Winner Is"! I began to read, expecting to see two names, but instead of two, it was a list of the top ten finalists. Linny's hubby thought it would be great fun to drag things out a bit. . . gotta love that Dwight!

So I start scrolling through the list, and guess what? There. I. Was. In the top ten! As Linny would say, "Yippee Jesus"! Wooohooo! One hundred and fifty-six people had entered, and I was in the top ten. How cool is that?

On August 23rd the two winners would be announced.

Checking . . .

checking . . .

checking that blog.

Finally, another "And the Winner Is" post! Starting with the tenth person drawn . . .

I

began

to

scroll

through

the list

of names

like this . . .

number nine, not me . . .

eight . . .

seven . . .

six . . .

five . . .

my heart is pounding . . .pounding . . . pounding . . .

I'm down to the fourth name, still not me . . . which means if I reveal number three and it's NOT me, I've won one of the two boxes!

At this point I send a holler through my household . . .

number three . . . not me!

I have finished in the top two!

YES!!!! I've won! I've won!!

Scrolling down to number two . . . still not me . . .

Number one says this: TINA

Yippee Jesus!

I was listed as the first place winner! My previously pounding heart soared!

I had won!

So why did Linny publish the whole top ten? Because she wanted to bless ten hearts instead of two, and the Lord pointed her in the direction of more Memorial Boxes.

Guess who got first pick? Me. And guess whose box arrived from Colorado last week? Mine! ("Mine" sounds so "two year old", but very fun to say sometimes!) So this, my first Memorial Box post, will be about just that-- my Memorial Box, and how the Lord granted me the desires of my "winning" heart! Just for the record, we are ALL winners in God's eyes. Oh how He loves us, each and every one of us!

The first thing to go into my Memorial Box will be a little framed picture of my Memorial Box, taken on the day it arrived!

On the back of the box, Linny inscribed these precious words, "I pray that each time you look at your Memorial Box you are reminded of God's deep and ever-abiding love for you and your family. I pray you all spend the rest of your lives celebrating the stories of God's complete faithfullness to each of you . . . that you are always reminded that He is the Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God!! Yippee Jesus!!"

We will Linny. We will! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being the start of something wonderful!

Blessings from my "sweet Monday" nest ~

Tina