What a beautiful month this is! The trees are really colorful.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends. And you have to know, one of my favorite seasons of the year is this time of year, this fall. I love October. The trees back on our family farm in Maryland are rustling their colorful skirts, ablaze in red and yellow. And of all the oaks, maples, and pines on our farm, one particular tree is my favorite. It’s an old, spreading maple by the spring house. In October its leaves were always so resplendent in red, tinged with purple edges. For many years, for all the years I was growing up and spending time on the farm, that old tree by the spring house was a favorite. Why? Well, I used to call it my birthday tree. Every year on October 15th, my birthday, that old maple would reach its peak of color. For that reason, I called it my birthday tree.
For me, it was always kind of a, well it was a stone of remembrance. You know that story from the book of Genesis. As it goes, Jacob heaped together a pillar of stones to mark the spot where God had met him in a special way. That stone memorial commemorated the event where God pledged to Jacob in a dream to watch over him and to bless his descendants. That pillar of stones was a visible, concrete reminder that God had touched his life. And that’s exactly what that old maple tree was for me. It was well, not my stone of remembrance, it was my tree of remembrance. Each year that maple tree marked how far I had come or what I had or hadn’t done.
Unfortunately, though, last year around this time, a rogue tornado swept through Maryland, uprooting all sorts of trees in its path. Great damage was done throughout Baltimore and Howard Counties and our farm suffered damage. It was a sad day when I learned that the old maple by the spring house had not survived the tornado – that grand old tree, along with so many others, was split and torn and uprooted.
But even though my birthday tree is now just a memory, it nevertheless is, for me, a memorial. Every October 15th is a memorial. That’s what birthdays are for, friend. They are our private marks in time, our stones of remembrance. And today, on this my 61st birthday (wow), I want October 15th, like that maple tree, to be a mark of change in my life. Something to show progress and growth. I want this date to be a bookmark in the pages of my life. I want to be able to look at this day and think back and say, yes, my prayer life has deepened… my understanding of God’s Word has grown… my friendships are more precious… my life in Christ is richer… the presence of Jesus is sweeter (especially as I finish up chemotherapy from the breast cancer I was diagnosed with earlier this year).
Friend, what reminds you of growth in your life? What is your stone of remembrance? Do you have a tangible reminder of how far you’ve come and how far you need to go? Well, be it a birthday tree, a photograph, a vacation spot, a piece of jewelry, or whatever, God wants you to be reminded of how he has met with you and touched your life. So join me in thanking the Father for any and every occasion worthy of a stone of remembrance. May you and I never forget the ways in which God has declared – and is still declaring – his presence in your life and mine. God bless you for spending this birthday with me today and I ask you in joining me as together we look forward to the future with great hope and confidence in our wonderful God, our God who has met us time and again. Not only in the past, but he’ll meet us again in the future.
And don’t forget, please remember to visit me today at joniandfriends.org.
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