Someone once said that marriages are built on memories. If that’s true, we need to take some time to reflect on those shared moments and write them down so we can talk about them with our children. The idea of remembering historical highlights goes back to God’s commissioning the construction of several monuments throughout Old Testament history. God knew that his children would easily forget many of the good and great things he had done for them over the years. So he commissioned monuments to help them remember the Ebenezer Stone. In 1 Samuel 7 they stood at the place where the Israelites defeated the Philistines so that the generations of parents could tell the story of God’s faithfulness to their children and their children’s children.
So why not make a point to take some time to collect some marriage memories of God’s faithfulness to you as a couple? What are the Ebenezer events in your marriage and family history? When and how did God show up in special ways? As I reflect on some of our favorite marriage memories, I have mental images of our early days serving together in youth ministry, the violent thunderstorm that sealed our doom as Wilderness Campers. Our nine year struggle with infertility and the miracle births of our two sons, enjoying over 30 years in the same house, attending the same church and neighborhood to see our sons grow, to leave and cleave to their wives, and then the arrivals of our grandchildren. These memories bring smiles, tears and laughs, but fill our hearts with thankfulness for all that God has done.
So I have a challenge for you…plan some time together to begin collecting the list of your favorite marriage and family memories. Look for times when God showed up in a special way. Get out your photo albums and enjoy a stroll down memory lane and pause to thank God for His faithfulness and blessing. Now take those photos out of the album and put them into frame so you can raise them as an Ebenezer, something that your family and friends can see. It’s going to give you an opportunity to share all those good things that God has done for you with your friends and family. Because family legacies are built on memories, too.
