Their 45th Anniversary…

Someone gave them a gift to commemorate it.

Now that gift sits in the resale shop.

Why is it here?

Have they died?

Are they in a care facility?

Was it one of many similar gifts?

Down the aisle from the anniversary plate sits a little red wagon…

A wagon that once carried happy news…

Family and friends wondered…

Was it a boy or a girl?

And then the wagon arrived carrying a bouquet of flowers and the awaited  announcement.

Why is it here?

Was somebody cleaning house?

“We’ve got to get rid of some of this stuff.  Keep it?  Or donate it?”

“Donate it!”

Marriage.

Children.

Gifts of love.

Gifts of life.

Gifts from God.

Gifts we celebrate and remember.

Now the reminders sit here in the thrift shop…

Disconnected from the moments they celebrated…

Disconnected from the lives God blessed.

But reminding everyone who sees them to remember God…

… take care lest you forget the Lord…  Deuteronomy 6:12

To remember that He is with us always to give us courage and strength…

… Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

To remember the miraculous things He has done in our own lives…

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced… Psalm 105:5

Perhaps to remind us to build altars in our own lives…

Not altars to our accomplishments, but to God’s goodness.

So that…

“In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’  Joshua 4:21

And we will tell them of the greatness and goodness of God…

And they will know that God is always with them…

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:6