Altars of Remembrance

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord,who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Genesis 12:7-8

There are so many mentions of altars in Scripture. Like the one mentioned above, altars often represented a personal encounter with God. The altar was built AFTER the encounter to serve as a reminder of what happened there. Because people tend to travel by the same places and pathways, the altars then served as a reminder of that encounter when that place was passed in the future.

There’s a lot that can be followed in the story of Abram. Many encounters with God. Many times he remembered the Lord’s goodness. Other times when he took things into his own hands to manipulate the outcome. Isn’t it awesome to think that even when we try to play the hand of God, it doesn’t change who He is? When things work out as we wish, He is still the same God. When things go completely opposite of anything we’d ever wish….He is still the same God. The altars of remembrance don’t disappear when we don’t get our way. In fact, that’s probably when they become the most meaningful.

November of 2016 was one of the most difficult months in my life. The Clifs Notes version will tell you that my dad had a ruptured aneurysm, had to be airlifted to a hospital in Mississippi, and that began a journey of surgeries and rehabs and successes and struggles. The Neuro ICU can be a lonely place. Yes, there are nurses buzzing around taking care of patients, doctors rounding with medical students, housekeeping coming through to keep things tidy and the nutrition team making sure the patients are well fed. Even when i was surrounded by people, including my dad lying in the hospital bed, I was alone.

In the midst of all of that, though, I got to build some altars. Linda was my dad’s first nurse. In the beginning, we had no idea if dad would wake up or what he would be like if/when he did. I was scared. But God sent a nurse named Linda (my mom’s name) to remind me that He was with us. Hannah was one of my dad’s nurses in the Neuro ICU. Her mother had the same type of aneurysm as dad and she became a nurse in THAT unit because she helped nurse her mom back to full health and wanted to do the same for people like her mom.

Friends and family members drove over to Mississippi to offer support, comfort, and presence. My husband stayed in town to take care of the kids and keep their routines as normal as possible. While I was away, friends back home helped provide meals to my family and care for my kids. One friend rode to MS with me that dreadful night because we didn’t think dad was going to make it and she refused to let me do that alone. A friend from college who lived in the area helped get my aunt to the airport so she could fly back to Cleveland. There are so many things that happened that I am just truly grateful for.

So why the reflection now? Almost five years later?

In August, I got to travel to Arkansas to present to the El Dorado School District. The way I drove to Arkansas was through Mississippi. Jackson, Mississippi. Home of the University of Mississippi Medical Center where Dr. Chad Washington and team saved my dad’s life. Home of moments of brokenness and peace and fear and celebration. As I drove through, I remembered each hotel I stayed in during my time there. The meals I ate at Cracker Barrel. And the coffee I picked up each morning at Dunkin’ before heading to the hospital. After we presented in Arkansas, I drove back home. Through Mississippi. Jackson, Mississippi. Home of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Home of Sal and Mookie’s pizza joint. Home of Cups Espresso Cafe. Home of prayers answered and dependence on the Lord established.

The awesome thing was that my friend and co-worker Cheryl was on that trip with me. As we drove back through Jackson on the way home, I got to tell her all about God’s provision for my family in that city.

A lot has happened since November of 2016. A lot has been good. A lot has been really, really hard. Those hard times could easily cause me to forget. So, Lord, thank you for choosing the hard days of August 2021 to drive me back through Jackson, Mississippi…..twice……so that I would remember. You’ve been with me through it all.