Multitude Mondays: How To Break Into God’s Secret Room
The real jewel was the deteriorating shack perched in the middle of the mess.
And though no one seemed to remember the days when that old house was filled with life, we created plenty of tales about a mysterious farmhand who had once called that hut home. We studied every inch of the outside of that old house and concocted explanations for each crack and dent that decorated the exterior of that sinking shack.
We imagined what it might have looked like when the paint wasn’t faded and peeling, remodeled the the whole place in our heads a thousand times.
We’d been studying a spider web on the north side of the old shack when my cousin noticed a broken window.
The pane had been crushed by a fallen tree limb, leaving jagged holes in the dusty glass. 
My cousin had studied the window quietly before wondering aloud if we could crawl through the newly-created entrance.
We’d jumped up and down at the possibility, had tried to lift the lightest little girl high enough to peer through the shattered glass.
But even our best heave-hos couldn’t elevate our young cousin within reach of the splintered passageway.
We’d shuffled around the edge of the house, kicking stones and mumbling in frustration.
Until my cousin had walked toward the timber.
There, at the edge of the abandoned lot, he began to study the dirty jumble of rocks strewn haphazardly through the trees.
Suddenly our inroad was obvious.
With hurried excitement, we began lugging those jagged rocks into a pile beneath the window.
We stacked stones until we’d built ourselves a makeshift ladder.
Then one by one, we bravely climbed up the crude steps and creeped through the splintered glass to explore the treasures inside.
And oh, there were treasures- brittle newspapers and rotting furniture, chipped coffee cups and dried up ink pens- enough fodder to fuel our childish imaginations for countless summers to come.
That pile of rocks had opened our eyes to a whole new world.
That stack of stones had uncovered stories just waiting to be told.
And this morning as I am scribbling thanks across a blue-lined page, I think about stone stacking.
And a God who commands His children to remember.
And I see it clearly- how this counting is my Gilgal and how this daily decision to remember His grace has opened my eyes to a whole new world.
A world of lavish love and simple joy.
Thanksgiving is the inroad to the heart of God.
And when I build my life with stones of praise, His treasures become mine for the taking.
“Thankfulness is a secret passage into a room you can’t find any other way… It allows us to discover the rest of God- those dimensions of God’s world, God’s presence, God’s character that are hidden, always, from the thankless.” –Mark Buchanan
The Overflow: “So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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 4:4-7
Piling stones of thanks with Ann today…
1209. Lizzy’s new look without the big green cast
1210. Cool splash in the pool on a 100 degree day.
1211. Kids covered in glow sticks, dancing across the yard.
1212. Friends gathered around the campfire, sparklers sizzling around our happy circle.
1213. Air conditioning.
1214. 12 kids squealing on our huge slip and slide draped down the hill.
1215. The gift of a soul-sister- time spent together too sweet for words
1216. The sound of my son’s voice after 6 days of silence. His safe return from the KY mission trip.
1217. Celebrating Anna’s sweet 16 with Jersey Freeze and smiles.
1218. Maggie’s delight at her big brother’s return- “I’m going to hug you until you break!”
Linking again in community with multitude mondays and these lovely grace seekers: l.l. for on, in, and around mondays, laura for playdates with god, ruth at the better mom, and jen for soli deo gloria
I really enjoyed your post because it brought back memories of my parents taking our family to the old ghost town of Bodie. We would imagine what life was like inside those old abandoned buildings. What a wonderful message: the stacking of rocks and the exploration of the past. I’m going to think on this for awhile.
Oh, Kathy,
I’ve got tears brewing just thinking about those big stones in that field after your sweet time with your friend. God is so good. And I love how He speaks- through stones and friends and stories.
I, too, would love to meet some day!
I was taken back to dreams of making our old chicken coop a palace with lace curtains and bedding…we never quite made it, but oh how I dreamed! And the barrel-rolling we did with the barrels someone brought over to the farm. Playing circus!
I want to visit your little shack! Is that the actual photo? (can you hear my girlish giddiness?)
A beautiful post. I met a high school girlfriend today who loves Jesus and we had the BEST time catching up on what God has done over these (30) years! (and life is hard, but God is good!!!)
On the way home I saw several piles of single large stones just randomly placed in a field and thought of this very passage…places of remembrance of God’s faithfulness. I like the thought of them being steppers to see in! I recently posted about activating faith through prayer and remembrance. (so this resonated with me!)
I hope we can meet up some day in a midwestern town…
Yes–this. We need those stones of remembrance–God knew.
And such a gift to the imagination, your old shack. No wonder you have such a rich inner life, Alicia. Seems it started early 🙂
You have such a special way of touching everyone! I too loved the story, I could feel like I was there with you!
Your words here…beautiful. I love reading something so refreshing when i visit blogs.
Thank you for your sweet comment. We are drinking in the sweetness of a newborn today.
Thanks for taking us back to your uncle’s farm. I was right there at your side.
Building our lives with stone of praise is something I know to be true and yet I need reminder after reminder. It just doesn’t come naturally.
Alicia, what a cool story that parallels so beautifully the pathway to the heart of God. lovely, as always !
Great paralleling story! Praising the Lord with you for Liz – can she swim now, too? God sure does give us so many good gifts!!!
~Robin
It never ceases to amaze me how much we can be thankful for the simple things, for those that others have discarded and left behind.
Oh, your post really brought back some sweet memories. We had an abandoned house in the middle of a corn field when I was a kid. And just like you said, it was great ammunition for countless imaginations.
Love how you saw the rock pile as a way to seek treasure . . . both then and now. I love the power in remembering His faithfulness. So transforming.
Amen to your list of graces. And keep cool! (We’ve got hundred degree days here, too!)
thank you for this amazing reminder today!!! I love that thankfulness is the secret passage to God’s heart!