In the back of my journal I have a pocket, and in that pocket I collect all sorts of “things.” Most of those “things” are reminders. Among them is: “My Edification List” from Barb, a poem from Courtney, a foot rubbing coupon from Abby, an encouraging note from Ben, a Father’s Day card from Blake, a letter from my brother, two prayer request cards from men, and my Dad’s obituary.

I laid these reminders out on my desk today and read them. Each one was a gentle shove to keep honoring God and serving others. As I look at them my heart breaks for the times I’ve failed, but I am also encouraged. I am encouraged because I realize that I have these people (and many more) in front of me courageously following God and behind me faithfully supporting my efforts.

We all need these kind of built in reminders. We need things in our life that remind us of God’s faithfulness to us and of people’s love. The Israelites had these reminders. On certain momentous, God-is-faithful-and-came-through occasions they would stack rocks so they wouldn’t forget (Joshua 4:1-7). They would write down the stories of God’s faithfulness so that the coming generations would continue to trust God (Psalm 78). Even God had a “book of remembrance” (Malachi 3:16); how cool is that!

What reminders do you have? Let me encourage and challenge you to get some. Put these reminders in your life personally, and then put some in place for your family. It is so easy to lose faith when discouragement hits. We all need to know that God is faithful and that people are for us. We need to know that we aren’t going through life alone.

Grace & Peace,