I have joined Emily’s* 30 Day Challenge:

I’m challenging myself to post a picture every day during the month of November (30 Days To Be Thankful For) and to add a caption as to why I am thankful. — Emily

Day  17

The oak tree in my backyard has lost its leaves, shrugged them off like an old, worn-out coat,

but I remember the parade of changing color:

from green to yellow, from gold to bronze, and ending with brown.

In a few short weeks the apricot tree has turned pale yellow and orange, with a few leaves sporting red.  I remember it.

I recall that this street has red maples arching overhead, so I make a point to drive this way in October.

I am thankful that the trees’ beautiful autumn colors are fixed in my mind, because  I have seen up-close the way Alzheimer’s steals away memories.  My father’s yesterdays fell away like the browned, oak leaves.

Even with a normally functioning memory, we tend to forget what God has done for us in the past.

Nehemiah talked to God about how his people in the past had

failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.  Nehemiah 9:17  NIV

It’s so easy to mentally fold up the stories of miracles in our lives and put them away where we don’t think about them.  God knows that we need help in the form of reminders.

After Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, God directed him to arrange twelve stones to help them recall what the Lord had done.  The stones were to remind future Israelites about the miracle of the Jordan, which echoed the miracle at the Red Sea.

In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.   Joshua 4:21-23   NIV

I remember the marvelous colors of the trees in fall, and they will be a reminder for me to think back on what God has done in my life.

Once again I’ll go over what God has done,
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts.   Psalm 77:11,12   The Message

I am thankful for the ability to remember.  Even if my mind’s memory-leaves begin to loosen and flutter to the grass,  I pray the river stone monuments and sturdy oak trunks of my past will jog the memory that God is good.  Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

See Thankful 30 page for every day’s entry.

* name changed

linked with Jennifer Dukes Lee