| What a beautiful month this is! The trees back on our family farm in Maryland are rustling their colorful skirts, ablaze in wild reds and crazy yellows. Of all the oaks, maples, and pines on our farm, one particular tree is my favorite. It’s an old, spreading maple growing by the springhouse. In October its leaves are resplendent in red, tinged with purple edges. And I know that today, my birthday, this maple will reach its peak of color, as it does every year. For this reason I call it my birthday tree.
Each year my tree marks how far I’ve come or what I have or haven’t done. It’s my “stone of remembrance.” Jacob had a stone of remembrance. He heaped together a pillar of stones to mark the spot where God had pledged in a dream to watch over him and to bless his descendants. The pillar of stones was a visible, concrete reminder that God had touched his life.
That’s what birthdays are, too—our private marks in time, our stones of remembrance. I want my birthday, like that maple tree, to be a mark of change in my life. Something to show progress and growth.
On October 15 I always call my sister on the farm and ask her about that old tree. She told me last year that it lost a big limb. It’s beginning to show signs of age. So am I—but hey, I’m still growing.
What reminds you of growth in your life? What is your stone of remembrance? Do you have some tangible reminder of how far you’ve come and how far you need to go? Be it a birthday tree, a photograph, or whatever, God wants you to be reminded of how he has met with you and touched your life.
Thank you, Father, for occasions worthy of stones of remembrance. Never let me forget the ways you have declared your presence in my life. |
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