During our Malawi small team meeting, people voiced their concerns about different aspects of preparing for the trip to Africa. Although all of them were understandable, God has shown me favor by granting me peace. I really have no apprehensions about the trip. I am enjoying the focus of my prayer time and quiet time with God and able to worship Him in an even deeper way as I lean on Him and trust in His plans for me.

I had an idea for leading worship with my small group this week that might just come in handy for my Malawi team as well. I have found that sometimes tangible reminders of the Lord's faithfulness help us during difficult times. Unfortunately human nature dictates that we will forget the amazing things that have been done for us quickly and easily if we don't continue to remind ourselves. Moses had not been up on the mountain with God very long before his brother Aaron and the Israelites had decided that he was never returning and that they needed to make a golden idol. As they melted their gold earrings and bracelets and fashioned them into a calf to worship, they even had the gall to thank the inanimate object for delivering them from Egypt!

We are not very good at staying focused. We humans are a bit dim witted...no wonder Jesus uses the ever so smart sheep (they are truly one of the dumbest animals around!) to describe us. Yet a sheep with a good shepherd can have a wonderful life as he walks with the one who knows where the green grass is and where the still water can be found. A sheep has no defenses...(unlike a porcupine with its quills,or a jungle cat with its sharp teeth and claws)...a sheep has a plump little body with tenuous fragile legs and a thick heavy coat able to keep him flat on his back if he tips over. But when a sheep is walking with a good shepherd he is protected...the shepherd has a rod and a staff to help him...the rod to fight off predators and the staff to scoop him up when he falls over.


In the bible there is mention numerous times about what they called an "Ebenezer". An Ebenezer was a monument of stone made precisely for the purpose of remembering. When God did something wonderful, they built a monument to Him in order to remember. As the memories faded from generation to generation, children would walk by such a structure and ask"What is that there for?", and parents would retell the story of what their great God had done. One of the most famous Ebenezers in the bible God actually commanded them to make. When the Israelite's were crossing the Jordan to get to the promised land, God commanded them to take twelve stones from the center of the Jordan floor bed,  one for each tribe of Israel, and pile them into a permanent reminder of what had been done for them (For those of you who don't know the story, God had separated the swelling flood waters of the Jordan so that His people could pass through to the promised Land. Just like when he parted the red sea, God was able to do what was impossible for His people to do alone)

Getting back to my idea for leading worship...So I thought that I could bring a number of small smooth stones in a bowl and some sharpie markers. Before we engaged in worship I would encourage everyone to write on their stone a remembrance of a time that God did something for them in their life. Then as we all worship to hold these stones in our hands, to move them through our fingers feeling the smooth texture and hefty weight of the stones as we sing our praises to the Lord... to use a tactile sense while praising...to cement in our hearts what God has done, and will do in our lives. God will guide us and protect us just as the good shepherd guides and protects the sheep. I thought that I could send everyone home that night with a tangible reminder of how great their God can be so that when times of difficulty or doubt come, they could pick up their stone and remember.

I am considering asking my team leader Ryan, if our Malawi team could engage in this exercises and each put into writing something amazing that God has done in our lives...maybe we could all bring these stones with us on the trip in case adversity comes while we are away.

I wish we didn't need to be reminded...I wish we didn't have the flaky preoccupied minds of bleating sheep, but we do. I believe this is why we are to renew our minds, to keep replacing fear and doubt and disbelief, with God's strength, and certainty, and trust.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what god's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

Now, I challenge you to go make an Ebenezer of some sort...be creative, it just needs to be a tangible thing, plant a flower, build something, go outside and bring something back into your home....what ever it is decide that when you look at it or pick it up and hold it, you will praise God for the wonderful things he has done for you. Attach a specific memory to your item and when you see it, remember Him...

Below see a picture of an actual Ebenezer erected to thank God for His faithfulness in Israel (I suggest that you try using something a bit smaller...lol)