Remember, Remember

Have you ever forgotten anything important - like a birthday or other anniversary, or an important meeting or appointment? If I don't write things down in my diary as soon as they are fixed there is always the chance that I will forget. Then a few weeks down the road I will have the vague feeling that I should probably be somewhere - but no idea where I should be or what I should be doing. Thankfully with modern technology, between my PDA, my computer and my mobile phone along with a wall calendar most things get remembered - even if sometimes it isn't until the last minute.

So if we need to write things down in order to remember why is it that we often assume we will remember God's deeds in our lives with no written or other form of physical and visible reminder? In Joshua 4 the people were instructed by God to build a stone memorial which would act as a permanent reminder to them and their children, and to all other people, that God had dried up the Jordan allowing them to cross over on dry ground. So the stones would either act as a reminder to those who had forgotten the story, or would be a prompt for a quick history lesson for those who had never heard it in the first place.

As Christians we have the communion service (eucharist, mass, breaking of bread...) which acts as a physical and visible and regular reminder of Jesus' death on the cross for us and of his love for us. But are there things we could be doing to help us remember God's goodness in our lives?

We could keep a prayer diary - where we record our prayers and God's answers. As we look back through the pages, the weeks, and months we will see how God has answered our prayers.

We could keep photographs and combine them with verses of Scripture that remind us of significant events in our lives, where God has done something for us.

I have a small cross next to my bed, made out of a spent bullet cartridge, a reminder that the sacrificial love of Jesus conquers all, that love is greater than hate.

Maybe you have other creative, physical and visible reminders of God's love for you that you would like to share with us here.