Today I’ve been sitting outside quite a bit (praying, working on my computer, thinking, etc), and I decided that one ‘stone’ in my Josh 4 memorial is nature. Not just generalized – nature as a concept – nature, but those moments when I get to commune with God. God often speaks to me through nature…not like a ‘being one with nature kind of way,’ but rather, nature being a sanctuary where my heart and mind can be still, and where I can pause and experience a ‘come Lord Jesus’ moment (being one with my Creator). God speaks loudly to me in the quiet (which may be paradoxical when put like that), that is, He speaks powerfully in the quiet of nature. Like now, when the soil of life seems to be up-tilled, I sit and hear the wind blowing through the trees, the sound of the leaves creating soothing choruses, while I find rest as creation seems to remind me that the Creator is in control. Or like the pause that gazing at the Milky Way gives me as I breathe in the cool mountain air. It never fails to take my breath away, while it whispers the mighty power of the One Whom I follow. Sometimes it’s the Lord’s voice that I hear, saying: “I see your heart, I hear your voice, I love you…” In those moments it’s not just about noticing the impact of the moment, but the realization that I am noticed…by the most important One: the One who made me, Who desires me, and Who has called me to lose myself in the experience of knowing Him.

So ‘stone’ number 9 is the revelatory moments (as small as they may have been), where God has grabbed my attention through nature, wooed my attentions and affections, and reminded me who I am and why I do what I do.