A Season of Thanks, Day 5

Along the road in Togo, every few kilometers you will spot a little cement marker sticking up out of the macheted grass. These little markers are painted white and red, with black numbers on them. They are miles markers (called bornes) and they tell you how far to the next town or village.

When I imagine the markers God plants in my life to remind me of him, I always picture these humble bornes. They're not much to look at but they are solid and they serve an important purpose, to tell you where you are, where you've come from, and where you are heading.

Looking back on my life, several of these markers come to mind. I've heard them called "thin places," those moments when spirit and flesh are so closely meshed they almost merge. The thin places are the places we see God.

Here are some of the milestone places where I have met God:

• Midnight Sun Bible Camp, 1984
• Harding Chapel, 1988
• At a voodoo ceremony, 1995
• In my kitchen, 1998
• On the Whidbey Island Ferry, 2000
• In our home office, 2010

There are dozens of other instances when I felt or saw the hand of God at work, but these are the moments that come to mind when I question whether God is real. I know he's real because he marked my life on each of these days. Today I give thanks for these markers.

There he built and altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him...

Genesis 35:7