Our histories are important in family counseling.  They highlight encounter points that have shaped who we are today, contributing to our present beliefs and expectations.

“Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed….” (John 10:40).

Touching base with those points of personal encounters with God provide places along the road maps of our lives as we walk in faith.  When Jacob witnessed the ladder to heaven he raised a stone to commemorate the  event and called the place Bethel (Genesis 28:10-32).

I believe that Jesus found those points of contact to be valuable to Him.  We, also, can know more about ourselves as we review our own history and experiences.

Though we cannot re-live our past there is value in remembering those times when God stepped into our awareness and made the way clear.

Those points of encounter can come at special times such as the day you said, “I do!” or with the birth of your first child…or at a time of personal tragedy when you had nowhere else to turn except to God.  The events of 9/11 provided a touch point for a nation as well for each of us personally.

The key: never forget those points along the way!  They have a way of setting our compasses for the road ahead.