Joshua 4: 6-7 “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones men to you?’ then you shall tell them……..These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel.”  By the time you read this, my family and I will have returned from a vacation time in Florida.  All our children and grandchildren will have spent a week together building memories that only a family can build.  We try to do this at least once a year and have had four unbelievable Christmas times in Colorado.  We are blessed to have the resources to do this but the investment in our family has repaid the cost many times over.  These are times that we have gotten away and had protected time with each other and the Lord.  We talk about what God is doing in our lives and homes and what landmark memories have happened over the past year.

Joshua knew what God had done for the Children of Israel could not be lost.  He had each of the twelve tribes to carry a stone across the Jordan river and place them together to remind the children and children yet to be born what God had done for them.  These memorial stones marked a family remembrance of being together in God’s promise to them.  The memorial stones that we build in our families should be the same and men should, like Joshua, make sure that memories are made in their families of what God has done.  The times of bonding and sharing are so rich that they become permanent memorial stones for generations to come.  Our family talks about past trips and memories with many laughs and praises.  One of the additional blessings is to hear the grandchildren talk about looking forward to the next time.  Leaders look for new opportunities to make memories and that will last forever.