Leigh and I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at everyone’s pictures they’ve posted on social media for the #HeFirstLovedUs day! We will forever be thankful for everyone’s support and love during this process!
The thought behind #HeFirstLovedUs day came from the Bible in Joshua chapter 3 and chapter 4. In Joshua 3, God dried up the Jordan River so that Joshua could take the Israelites to the land God had promised them. After Joshua led them (on dry land) through the Jordan River, God told Joshua, “take 12 stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan…bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight” (Joshua 4:3).
Moving further down, Joshua 4:21 says, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you can let your children know…God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed through.”
I am quick to forget God’s grace in my life and how He fulfills His promises to me. There’s no doubt, as time goes on and as parenting gets tough, I will forget of God’s faithfulness to Leigh and I as we have journeyed through this process. That’s why #HeFirstLovedUs day is so important to us! These pictures are memory “stones” for us.
We plan to take all these pictures, frame them, and hang the framed picture in our child’s room. When they ask us, “Mom, Dad…who are these people in this picture…” We’ll be able to say, “These are our memory stones. God used all these people to help us as we were working so hard to bring you home to us. God was faithful to us as He brought you into our lives. We keep these pictures to remind us of how many people God used to get you here. We love these people, and we don’t want to forget God’s grace and faithfulness through them.”
Thanks again to everyone for allowing us to create memory stones! I hope it encourages you to create memory stones of your own. We’ll keep collecting pictures and compile them in the next month or two. As more people are buying shirts daily, we want to make sure everyone gets included in the “memory stone” collage. We’re so excited to pull this all together!
We Love You ALL!
Matt and Leigh