We all need to be reminded of God’s strength in every situation. If you are like me you may need more help in this area than others. The Bible should be the first tangible place we visit to seek guidance and assurance that God is in control. I encourage you to surround yourself with scriptures that resonate with you. It is helpful to write verses on a mirror or chalkboard in your home so that you can read them often. Prayer and worship are also amazing ways to connect with God and feel the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life. Today though I want to suggest adding little mementos from times that you drew near to the Lord and he carried you through. These visual tokens help me recall what God has done in my life.

These souvenirs from seasons of difficulty can be literally anything. Many people collect vacation keepsakes, I prefer to surround myself with mementos of God’s work in my life. To be outside is my happy place, so many of the things I have collected are from nature. This also makes them free which brings me additional joy! Perhaps it could be a unique rock that you found on the beach or hike when you were talking to God alone. Get creative. I have remains of leaves and turtle shells that remind me that he is capable of knitting everything in the world together. Vacant bird nests are also some of my favorites to collect because it is an amazing example of God’s provision. Several nests sit on my mantle next to a picture that reads “Every day holds the possibility of a Miracle” by Elizabeth David. Most people that visit my home don’t know I have all these things around me as reminders of God’s provision in my life, but they quietly lift me up each day.

Through more difficult circumstances there have been more obvious reminders, like a flowery tattoo on my leg that my daughter helped design that says “Thy Will Be Done”. I decided if there was going to be ink on my body, I needed the daily truth that I was not in control. It is a reminder every time I glance at my tattoo, that I am fine with God’s will, not my own. 

In an exceptionally difficult time in my life, I heard a sermon by Lisa Bevere based on her book “Girls with Swords” . The portion of the sermon that spoke deeply to me was “blooming under pressure”. She taught that some of the most amazing seasons of growth are times when we are under the most pressure. God is with us all along, but it is HARD! That’s were the growth is, in trusting him through the trial. This was such a trying time and these words of wisdom gave me something to trust in. The picture of a flower being forced to bloom after being in hibernation. That was me! Lisa planted the bulb with full anticipation of a beautiful flower blooming from the prepared circumstances, just as God is expectant of our blooming through trials. That was a picture that I held on tight to through this time and even still today. I bought myself a tiny ring covered in flowers to remind me how God had strengthened me and is always helping me to bloom under pressure. It has been several years ago now and I still wear the ring and think about what God is doing through my challenges. There aren’t many people that know the story behind that ring, but it is a powerful reminder to me of what God is capable of transforming in me.

If it is a new idea to have small souvenirs surrounding you that remind you of all that God has done in your life, I encourage you to get creative. Don’t drag a bunch of rocks and drift wood into the house and try to place worth on it. Please don’t start idolizing some object. However, as you go through your days think about what you could surround yourself that would quietly remind you what God has brought you through. Just a little prompt that causes you to recollect that God is indeed in control. 

Psalm 94:19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.