Our Ebenezer Box

" Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."

(1 Samuel 7: 12)

I posted some time ago a link to an article explaining a family thanksgiving tradition. The author shared that her family would decorate a box, paste an appropriate Scripture verse on the front, and inside leave notes of thanks to God throughout the year. These notes cames in many forms...post-its, envelopes, scraps, etc. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the family would then gather for a special time to read through these praises, remembering God's faithfulness throughout the year. Finally, they would burn the notes and sing a hymn of praise.

We love this idea and decided we would begin this tradition. We decorated an empty oatmeal canister, and the children chose a verse related to giving thanks..."Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (Psalm 107:15) We decided to call this our "Ebenezer" box, reflecting the memorial stone that Samuel set as a reminder of God's help, for this, though a simple box, would hold many reminders of how "hath the LORD helped us" throughout the year.

We're looking forward to having this wonderful written record of God's mercies, and I'm hoping we'll have to make several boxes to hold all of our notes of gratitude! We'll most likely go through our notes on Thanksgiving, and instead of burning the notes, I'll copy them and make treasured scrapbook pages from them. I'm always regretful at the end of the year that I don't remember all of the mercies God has shown us, and this is a wonderful way to capture at least some of them and make them available for generations to come, that they, too, can rejoice in God's faithfulness and be encouraged in their walks with Him.

Love,
Queen Mom

(Go here for original article. )