Don't Forget

Last spring (2008) we did some major home remodeling, which included an overhaul of the kitchen and bathroom as well as ripping out the giant picture window in our living room and replacing it with an entertainment center. After the entertainment center was finished, it sat empty for quite a while as I tried to decide what I wanted in the shelves. I recently got it all finished and wanted to share, especially about one shelf in particular.

On the bottom left we have our Wii and PS2. Above that is a meager Chiefs shelf, and up from there is my tribute to Attacktix. The top left is just a collection of hats of my various sports teams. On the bottom right side we've got our DVR system and DVD/VCR. Above that is a pretty sweet Royals shelf, with the required (for me, anyway) Star Wars shelf on the top right.



The shelf that has the place of honor, center top, is the best shelf of all. The idea for this hit me quite a while back while in a Bible study at church. We were talking about how quickly we forget what God has done in our lives and how important it is for us to put up reminders to help prevent that from happening.

In Joshua 4, God commands the Israelites to set up 12 stones as a reminder of what He has done. He specifically mentions their children, that they'll see the stones and ask, "What do these stones mean?" This shelf serves both of those purposes: that we might not forget what God has done and that other folks might ask why in the world I have a bag of wheat on the shelf!



Everything on the shelf has some significance (except the clock, I suppose, that's mainly just there to tell time...), but I decided to just share three of them here - marked A, B and C in the image.

A) This is a piece of drywall from our ceiling that collapsed. That story is worthy of a blog post all by itself, and hopefully I'll have one soon. I'll simply say here that God's hand was evident as He protected all of us during the crazy ceiling-falling-fiasco.

B) This is the infamous bag of wheat. The story here involves Karin's health. Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed by this one, but what can you do... Anyway, for a long time (since we've been married, really) Karin has had various stomach problems. Doctors had tried to isolate different things, but it never seemed like we figured out what the real problem was. Well, last fall (yes, over ten years into our marriage) I began to pray and ask God what the deal was with Karin's health. Within three days it became completely clear to me that she had Celiac's Disease, which is a gluten allergy. Since she's cut gluten out of her diet she's had zero problems. Praise God!!!

C) This is a t-shirt from Mission Arlington. I have already chronicled how we ended up going there for spring break this past March, but it's always good to go back and read it again!

There are many other items on the shelf and I'm confident many more will be joining them. It really only takes one bad day for me to get in a funk and forget all the great things God has done in my life, revealing His love, power and wisdom. Having these items front and center helps me to regain perspective and reflect on some of the things He's done in the life of our family. You may not have a shelf set aside in your home, but I hope you have some way to remember what God has done and glorify Him as you share the story with others!