In the Bible, we find the Israelites crossing the Jordan River to inherit the promised land God had sworn to their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The previous generation had come with Moses to this place before, but had lost the privilege of entering because they would not obey God and they lacked faith. The entire generation, except for two, had been sentenced to die in the desert, wandering for forty years. Now a new nation of adult children and their families had come with Joshua to the bank of the same river and crossed to the other side.
The Lord gave Joshua specific instructions:
“Choose 12 men from among the people. Choose one from each tribe. Tell them to get 12 stones from the middle of the river. They must pick them up from right where the priests stood. They must carry the stones over with all of you. And they must put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.” (Joshua 4:2-3 NIRV)
The twelve men did as Joshua requested and he piled the stones in their camp that night at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. Then Joshua spoke to the people of Israel and said,
“In days to come, your children after you will ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ The parents must tell them, ‘Israel went across the Jordan River on dry ground.’ The Lord your God dried up the Jordan for you until you had gone across it. He did to the Jordan River the same thing he had done to the Red Sea. He dried up the Red Sea ahead of us until we had gone across it. He did it so that all the nations on earth would know that he is powerful. He did it so that you would always have respect for the Lord your God.” (Joshua 4:21-24 NIRV)
Stonepile Studios is committed to the next generation of believers. It is a place for equipping, empowering, remembering and retelling, generation to generation, so that all will know what the Lord has done—that He is powerful and worthy of our respect.
About Paula
Paula Tremayne currently oversees Student Ministries and the Internship Program at Cornerstone Community Church in Wildomar, California. She is committed to raising up the next generation of leaders in a world spinning with technology, blogging and social media. Prior to Cornerstone, Paula served at the executive staff level and as a Children’s Ministry Director for 14 years . She enjoys recruiting teams, training volunteers, creating environments, planning programs, writing curriculum and developing leaders. She has a degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Education, a master’s degree in Special Education, has attended Multnomah School of the Bible and has served on staff at Thousand Pines Christian Camp and Conference Center. Prior to her work at church, she taught elementary and middle school in the public school system for 11 years. Her greatest joy is in helping people of all ages discover their gifts and equipping them for the work of the ministry.
Paula is a game-playing, people-loving extrovert. On any given day you might find her delving into a deep conversation with trusted friends, curled up with a good book—highlighter in hand—or enjoying great Mexican food with an abundance of amigos. She is married to Jim, the best man on planet Earth, has two amazing adult children, Caity and Riley and a wonderful new daughter-in-law, Abby. Her purpose in life is to become all that God created her to be.