Ebenezer Stones

Last night, I gathered our little crew before bedtime to remember and reflect... 

This summer has been full and we have had some events overshadow some of the celebrations and times of remembrance that we usually try to mark in the summer.  We have these two little books pictured below that tell stories of some significant markers in Anna and Taylor's faith journeys.  

   

 Even though we did not mark these days in June and August, I did not want the summer to slip by without a chance to tell the stories again to Anna and Taylor to help them remember. 

Last night, we looked at pictures and read through the books (laughing in particular at the account of Taylor's story- especially in regard to his prayer about Jake White that day-- see below.) 

And then, I got these rocks that I have collected on hikes this summer and told them about Ebenezer rocks. They are simply markers that remind us of God's faithfulness and goodness in our lives.  

The stories from June 19th 6 years ago and of August 3rd 5 years ago are such Ebenezers. They are markers of the mystery of God's incarnation in our lives...the mystery of the moments when we give Christ our hearts and ask Him to be King... the transformation that comes when we say "yes" to God, when we are rescued and when we are given the hope that we can be restored.  As I reflect on Anna and Taylor's stories, I recognize that these particular days were days when we were clearly aware of God's presence and voice.  And it is my prayer that God would continue to open our eyes and our ears so that we would not miss what He has for us as we learn to trust Him to guide us, to empower us and to redeem us. 

I gave everyone a rock to choose from last night and asked each of us to reflect on ways we have been aware of God's presence and faithfulness in our lives in this last year.  These Ebenezers can be reminders of the mystery of God's incarnation in our lives each and every day as we ask for grace to remember and to hear the Spirit whispering and reminding us of our journeys. 

We each wrote a few simple words to point to an experience from this past year. 

Jason: "Trust Fall" (an unforgettable experience with our hiking crew in Glacier on our final hike together where we each shared the areas we wanted and needed to trust God, did a trust fall by falling back off a rock into the arms of our hiking group and then were held and supported for a period of time. It was so different than a team building experience that I have done before because it was done with a spirit of prayer and it was profound to experience the support of community.) 

Emily: "eh- 6/21/14" (my experience of running in the Seattle Marathon this year and having Elizabeth pushing me (figuratively and literally) to the finish line. The support was a huge gift and chokes me up almost every time I think about it as it is a powerful picture to me of friendship, of God's love, and of support.) 

Anna: "Goat Peak 2013"- (hiking in the Methow Valley last summer where Anna told me that she really felt like she experienced God as her Creator. She was so moved and awed by the beauty of the hike and at all that God had made.) 

Taylor: "Glacier Camp"- (he reflected on the times of talking about God and one experience in particular when they prayed at different stations (praying for friends/family, nature, food, homelessness, yourself, people are sick) 

We put these in a jar and will continue to add to this 

through the year as a tangle reminder of God's goodness. 

see below for the stories we read and remembered last night about Anna and Taylor's journeys and of a blog post about Ebenezer Rocks that has some great ways to get this tradition started. 

Summer 2008

On the morning before we left Lodwar, we went on a hike up to Prayer Mountain which overlooks the village. Pastor Kaaleng, whom I lived with back in the summer of 1994, designated this mountain to be one for prayer in Lodwar. Each week, pastors from all the churches come up to pray together and alone for the community and for the needs of their congregations. Can you imagine if this were to happen in our cities here? Wow!  My mom, Katherine Falk, Anna, Pastor Kaaleng, Joshua Lemuya, and I went up together. We had a time to pray together and then each had time alone on the mountain.  As I went off, I gave Anna her bible (The Jesus Storybook Bible) and prayed for her and for God’s Spirit to speak to her in a fresh way.  I prayed for an assurance of her faith and was led to read Romans 5:11 “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.”  As we gathered back together, I went over to Anna and asked her if anything stood out to her while she was looking through her Bible.  She flipped very deliberately to the page that had this picture below on it.

She told me that she was the little girl and the daddy in the picture was God.  I asked her if she wanted to pray with us and she told me that she wanted to go pray by herself and talk to God.  I gathered our group for prayer and then went to find Anna.  She was sitting on a rock with Puppy (her beloved stuffed animal) looking out over Lodwar.  She told me that she asked Jesus to come into her heart. I gave her a big hug and told her that I was so thankful for her. That night for our celebration with the staff before we left, we all shared in communion, and Anna took her first communion surrounded by the pulse of the African music and our beautiful brothers and sisters of Turkana.  I know that Anna now has her whole life ahead of her to continue to unwrap this mystery and the wonder of God’s relationship with her.  It is a step of faith and a commitment that we are each faced with at one point or another.  What an answer to prayer that Anna had such a profound experience here in this place that has shaped me tremendously, and what a reference point for her of a place where she is beginning to take hold of the faith given to her. 

August 3, 2009

We began reading the Narnia series around June 18^th and Anna, Taylor and I have been entranced so we have plowed through them all.   After reading all 7 books this summer (about 1540 pages worth!!), we finally finished the last book ,The Last Battle, today.    

The book deals with the end of time in the old Narnia and the ushering in of the new Narnia.  There is a great battle at the end between those loyal to Aslan and those who have opposed him or deserted him.  Aslan appears at the end and brings those who have been his followers with him to his country (the new Narnia).  

At one point, the Unicorn sums up what everyone is feeling when they are in the new Narnia.  He says, “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.  The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.  Come further up, come further in!”  I had asked Anna and Taylor what one of their favorite places was. Anna said, “Africa” and Taylor said, “You Nork” (a.k.a.- New York!). I explained that this new Narnia (or heaven) would be like this—the reason we love these places here so much is that they give us a glimpse of the glory of God and a tiny window into what may be in store. 

The children (Lucy, Edmund and Peter) in the end are worried that they will not get to stay.

Lucy said, “We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”  “No fear of that,” said Aslan.  “Have you not guessed?” Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.  “There was a real railway accident” said Aslan softly.  “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”  And as he spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.  And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”  (Pg 210- 11) The Last Battle)

As we finished the book, Taylor kept asking me about the train wreck.  He was concerned about what had happened to Peter, Edmund and Lucy. I explained that they had died and told him that when we die that we are invited to come be with Jesus in heaven just as Aslan’s followers were invited to come to the new Narnia.  We talked about how Aslan changed Edmund’s heart, turning him from a traitor into King Edmund the Just.  He also “undragoned” Eustace and transformed him into a hero through his adventures in Narnia.  We talked about Anna’s experience on prayer mountain and our celebration of that this summer.  She told him that she had asked Jesus to come into her heart. I asked him if this was something that he wanted to do and he said yes, but that he wanted to pray when Jason got home. 

We kept talking and I asked him why he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his heart and he said, “Because I love Him.”  How sweet to hear this from a four year old boy whose heart is so tender and yet who also wants to go to sleep with a sword in hand… J

When Jason got home, we talked at dinner about our “roses and thorns” (our Monday night tradition of talking about things we are thankful for and things that we were not so thankful for too.)   When it was my turn, I shared that my rose was that we finished the Narnia books and about the conversation with Taylor. He then told Jason about it and said, “I want to ask God into my heart.” 

When it was bedtime, we all headed upstairs and sat on the bed together to pray. I read that last page of the Last Battle (see above) and the last page of The Jesus Storybook Bible which is a paraphrase of John 1:12-13: “For anyone who says yes to Jesus, for anyone who believes what Jesus said, for anyone who will just reach out to take it, then God will give them this wonderful gift: to be born into a whole new Life to be who they really are, who God always made them to be—their own true selves—God’s dear child.”  Because you see, the most wonderful thing about this Story is—it’s your story, too! 

We began to pray after this:

Taylor: “Dear God, thank you for this day. We pray for a good day tomorrow. Thank you.”

We talked to him and reminded him of what we had talked about earlier and encouraged him to keep going. 

As he began to pray again, he said, “Dear Jesus, please come into Jake’s heart so that he can share better.” 

At this, it was all Jason and I could do not to burst into laughter.  (Jason said under his breath, “Well, Taylor, that was close—just a few blocks off…”)  I reminded him of what we have said at church in Sunday school all year: “Jesus died on the cross and He rose again because He loves me..” He and Anna said this with me with their arms outstretched, raised and then crossing their chests as a hug. 

Taylor: Dear Jesus, please come into my heart. 

Anna: Dear Lord, thank you for this gift that you are giving to Taylor.

Jason: Thank you for this adventure that Taylor is beginning.  We confess that we all only know You a little bit and we have a long way to go to understand who You really are.  So we ask you to continue to guide us and draw us to Yourself and help us understand more of who You are.  Please gather our family to follow after you and guide us as we learn more about You. 

What could I say after this? Anna said it best—yes, Jesus, thank you for the gift that you are giving to Taylor and that you continue to give to each of us. May we all have a childlike spirit of curiosity to know the truth and the tenderness of heart to ask for God to come into our hearts to make us new.  As Taylor enters this adventure and daily discovers more of what it means to be a follower of Aslan, may we all seek to know Him more each day and seek the mystery of the gift given. 

As it is said in The Last Battle, “further up and further in….”

Taylor holding The Last Battle/ August 3, 2009

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ebenezer stones ( a post from Maggie Tarryn) 

This might just be the easiest, but most meaningful DIY I’ll ever post.  Ebenezer Stones were introduced to me when I was a camp counselor oh so many years ago.  I can’t even remember the exact instant that we talked about these at counselor circle that summer of ’97 but for some reason I’ve never forgotten what the meaning of an Ebenezer Stone is.  And with this months theme being history this is a perfect DIY to celebrate your history and to be thankful for it.

A few years into our marriage I came across I Samuel 7:12, it says, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” He was erecting a stone to remember the Lord’s help, the Lord’s blessings, and the Lord’s faithfulness after a time of trial and hardship.  Ebenezer  is a combination of 2 Hebrew words that  means “stone of help.”  I was excited to come across this Bible verse again because I’d tucked the idea of Ebenezer Stones away in my brain from those summer days at camp.

I remember telling my husband about the idea of giving people we loved and were walking through life with an Ebenezer Stone when they experienced a blessing and something to be so thankful for.  He loved this idea.  Absolutely loved it.  Shortly there-after we had some amazing friends who had a little girl after a long, difficult, and heart-breaking journey to parent-hood…..I knew we had to give them an Ebenezer Stone.  I felt a little silly bringing a rock wrapped in pink ribbon to the hospital but when I gave it to my friend and she read what I’d written about it I looked at her face and knew that these Ebenezer Stones were an amazing physical reminder to the blessings that we’ve been given in our life.

Since that day we’ve given out a few more, received some of our own from friends who love them too, and even made some of our own to commemorate things we recognize as blessings even if they don’t seem big and huge and monumental.  I have this vision of a big, beautiful jar in my house just filled with these stones…..I want them to all look different, be various sizes, and to all tell a story of a blessing that we’ve been given.

Below are a few pictures of some of our stones.  Like I said, this couldn’t be easier!  Grab some stones, some Sharpies (don’t forget the metallic ones–they write great on rocks) and start thinking.

Georgia is born!

For more on this blessing see a previous post of mine here.

Our wedding day.

If you know the story of our wedding day–the real blessing is that we got through it.  I was so sick I ended up in the emergency room–oh yeah….that’s true.  More on that another time.

Our first house.  Never would have happened without the blessing of my grandpa.

The card that our friends gave us when they presented us with an Ebenezer Stone on Georgia’s adoption day.  It’s always in her room next to the stone below and if you ask her what it’s for she’ll tell you….”my doption day.”

I think this is an amazing legacy you can pass down to your children….not just the recollection of God’s blessings and protections in your life, but physical reminders in a prominent place in your home that they can touch and look at and remember.  It’s really very easy to have something great happen and within a few weeks, months, or years, the significance of it might begin to fade.  And then something tough happens and it’s easy to think that nothing good ever happens in your life or dwell on how bad your newest tough “thing” might be.  These tangible reminders all together in one place can show you just how many protections and blessings you’ve been given.

I would encourage you to do these for so many things.  Not just the massive life-changing stuff.  Because, really, at the end of the day, so many times,  it is all the little things that add up to show you God’s hand in your life.      -Maggie Terryn