Rocks of Remembrance

"We have to be intentional in our remembering and in our retelling of the stories. Our students need to hear us savor and relish the journey. They need to hear our amazement at how good God is. Remembering His faithfulness gives us courage for the future."

Several days ago, I walked through the hallways and was caught by the sight of one of our students sitting with a teacher. Students and teachers sit together all the time—we’re a school, after all—so the scene was nothing unusual to most. But this particular moment made me stop and reflect with joy and gratitude because I knew the story of how hard this teacher and student had worked to get to where they were. I knew of the challenges and the perseverance and the investment that had carried them over the past several months. I saw the child look up and share a laugh with the teacher and that smile meant as much to me as anything we’ve accomplished this year because I remembered where the journey began.

I’ve found myself in several recent conversations centered around the importance of remembering. These conversations have felt particularly profound on days when the to-do list somehow grew longer by the end of a day than it was at the start. I’m so thankful that there are people at Donum Dei who help us look forward in confidence by reminding us to look back with gratitude.

Four words is all it takes: Remember what He’s done! And as soon as someone says this, it’s an invitation to nod our heads and inhale deeply as the stories of God’s faithfulness come back to our minds—stories so good we almost wouldn’t believe them if we hadn’t lived them.

As we head into the final month of the school year, it’s natural to measure our growth, our progress, and our achievements. We want proof of progress. Did we meet our learning goals? Our financial goals? Our staffing goals? Our enrollment goals? It’s good to celebrate progress but that progress is so much sweeter when we remember where we were and how God has shown up time and again to provide and lead in ways only He could.

A teacher walked into my office last week holding a picture she had drawn of a stack of rocks. The note she wrote on the back said, “Yesterday you mentioned your desire to remember all the ways God has shown His goodness and the image of these stones came to mind.” She continued, “The story of God Himself telling Joshua to have the Israelites build a memorial to remind the generations to come of the way He delivered them is for today.”

We have to be intentional in our remembering and in our retelling of the stories. Our students need to hear us savor and relish the journey. They need to hear our amazement at how good God is. Remembering His faithfulness gives us courage for the future.

I hope you’ll take time to think about the journey over the last year. Consider gathering your family one evening with a basket of rocks and having everyone contribute to building a pile of remembrance. Name the specific things He has done and don’t be afraid to acknowledge rocks that represent difficult times. Even—and sometimes especially—in those hard moments, we sense God’s presence all the more.

The next time you stop by my office, don’t be surprised if you see a pile of rocks set up on the bookshelf. As you think about the stories of God’s faithfulness to Donum Dei, feel free to bring in your own rock of remembrance and let’s keep building our testimony together.