These little yellow socks are a remembrance from a scary and surprise event that our 2 year old son, Matthew, and our family walked through together while traveling around town. We were driving along and noticed Matthew was lethargic and when Corinne looked in his eyes, she noticed they were bloodshot. We happened to be on the other side of town when we discovered this, and it was the weekend, before the time of urgent care centers. But a doctor friend from our church lived in the area and we decided to drop in just to get him checked out. She looked him over and told us to take him to the emergency room. It turned out that he had a severe bacterial infection and needed an IV. So this toddler was kept in the hospital for a day or two until they were certain the infection was under control and could discharge him. I remember later the evening we left him at the hospital, gathering the rest of our kids together with Corinne and weeping while praying that Matthew would be healed from this and not harmed by it. God answered our prayers, he was soon back home with us, and we rejoiced, but I held onto the little yellow socks that he wore while in the hospital as a remembrance of God's faithfulness to Matthew.
Fast forward almost 30 years and we are at a worship service at Renewal Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia with Matthew, and the pastor is preaching from Exodus 17:8-16. In this passage the Amalekites launch a surprise attack on the Israelites near Rephidim. Moses instructs Joshua to launch a counterattack the next day. As Joshua and the Israelites engage the enemy, Moses stands on a hill with Aaron and Hur on either side of him. When Moses' hands are raised the Israelites prevailed and when Moses' hands drop from wearyness, the Amalekites prevailed. So, Aaron and Hur have Moses sit on a rock and they keep Moses' hands held high until the Amalekites are defeated at sunset. At the conclusion of the event, the Lord tells Moses "Record this event on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven." Then Moses builds an altar and called it The Lord Is My Banner. He said "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord..."
There are many connections here. It is good to remember the times when God's banner was over us, where we needed to raise our hands towards the heavens and seek His help, where we needed the help of other believers and people of faith to walk or stand with us. And it's good to build altars by keeping remembrances of events where God showed up and we experienced The Lord is My Banner in a deep and rich way. Because of distance we don't often worship together, but recalling this family event while we worshipped together, while being instructed to remember the times when God has showed up in our lives was a very special gift.
