I love to read. I constantly switch between books relating to youth or children's ministry and books relating to theology and spiritual disciplines. When I find a book that intersects several of these areas I become excited. Recently I picked up a copy of "Helping our Children Grow in Faith" by Robert Keeley. To be honest, so far there hasn't been much that I've learned which has been new, just some refreshers. Maybe I've read too many books in this genre.That said, Keeley has a a few thoughts in one of the early chapters which made me stop and think. On page 30 he writes about Joshua as he led the Israelite nation into the Promised Land for the first time. As they crossed the Jordan River [Joshua 4:4-7] Joshua instructed the heads of each of the 12 tribes of Israel to pick up a stone from the middle of the river. Joshua said:
In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. [Joshua 4:6-7]
These words and this story led us to choose the name of our 4th child, Jordan. In his book, Keeley writes that "Joshua set up a marker so that parents would be asked questions that would remind them to tell the story of God's deliverance." [page 30, emphasis mine]. Even though this is a passage of scripture I've read over and over again, I always thought about it a little differently. I always pictured the chidlren asking questions in the future, and the parent's responding. What I had not thought about before is the intention Keeley points out - that Joshua intentionally created a marking point which would cause children [future generations] to ask about God, and would create a opening to share about what God had done in the past.
Keeley's followup statement is that 'we need to tell our children stories too." [page 30] This section of his book made me think. What sort of markers do [can] we set up that will cause our children to ask questions. Are there ways that we are able, like Joshua, to inspire future questions from children - and future reminders to parents - about what God has done?
