stephen R Harrison

We’ve collected and lost our fair share of shells from our beach vacations over the years. And if you don’t find what you want while walking on the beach, just stop by any souvenir shop and pick up several along with a T-shirt, refrigerator magnet, photo frame, and bobble head sea turtle to remember your vacation. Souvenirs are big business anywhere you go because people want to remember the fun times spent with family and friends. What better way to do that than with a snow globe of dolphins playing cards on the beach?

Souvenirs can also remind us of spiritual things. I have a scripture verse made from a metal barrel from a missions trip to Haiti and a wind chime made out of seashells from a missionary partner in the Philippines. These remind me to pray for our missionary partners and the orphanages, schools, and churches full of people they lead. While the Bible doesn’t speak of souvenirs, it does talk about memorials. Moses built a memorial altar made of stones to remind everyone who saw it of God’s covenant with Israel (Exodus 24:4-6). Joshua had a man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel pick up a stone from the middle of the Jordan river to build a memorial. This reminded all who saw it what God had done when He parted the Jordan river and caused the Israelites to walk across on dry land. What a miracle no one should ever forget! They were even instructed to tell their children what the stones meant when they asked (Joshua 4:6-7; 21-23).

Sometimes, our kids need to know the story behind the memorial. I wrote scriptures on the studs of my house with a sharpie before hanging sheetrock and showed my oldest daughter who was four at the time what they meant. I have a cross hanging in my house that I made out of a rusted half-buried piece of angle iron I found in a field. I reclaimed this forgotten piece of scrap and welded it into a cross to symbolize how Jesus redeemed us. That cross in our house has a bigger story than being purchased online or at a store for decoration. I used it and it’s story of redemption to preach an Easter service where 14 people were saved! What a constant reminder of how Jesus saves. What a memory! What a memorial! Create spiritual memories and reminders to point you and your family back to all God has done and let that give you hope of all He will continue to do in your lives.