Stones in the Jordan

Maybe I should say square peg, round hole instead! 

By now most everyone knows how much I love the giant timber bamboo that grows in our labyrinth. It is an amazing plant to watch grow and work its way thru the seasons! Well, as has been the case the last few years, new shoots are coming up and trimming needs to happen. BUT, this year I wasn’t paying attention to all the new growth and getting it out (or chopped down) in time. 

So today, as I walked the labyrinth, there was a part of the path that was just totally blocked! Well, if I squirmed sideways I might have made it…or been stuck forever. Just to the left, tho’ there was a path and not only that, it was a full on straight path that wasn’t an option when I first laid out the labyrinth! Oh Life, we squeeze and squirm with things and try to force our way thru, only to get stuck somewhere God never intended!

This all got me to thinking about how to avoid the squirm, how to see the new path and get moving in the right direction sooner. I am so thankful for the people that God puts in my life to help give me direction, to point the way when I’m not paying attention (or I’m squirming!). I know I don’t always heed the advice, or hear the wisdom they are speaking into me, but oh how I want to learn to listen better!

I am so thankful for the “markers in life ~ the people and experiences God marks our steps with, the ways HE marks our way and shows us HIS way for our life. Those things – the “stones” – that point us to Him and remind us of what He has done in our lives.

It is soooo easy to get lost in our own stories, our own narratives of the day…but, oh how our Father has a way of reminding us, gently prodding us back to The Way of Truth, the straight path. Difficult to see in the darkness of our world, but HE shines on and in the stones of each of our Jordans to help encourage us that we do not walk alone… and we get to choose where our gaze falls and our heart follows.

Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’

Joshua 4: 21 & 22 ~ The Message Version