This week concluded my time at Cairn University, where  I worked in the marketing department for over 5 years. I am grateful that I find it hard to leave my job. If it was easy, I would question the impact that it had on my life.

While I worked at Cairn one of the biggest projects I worked on was the name change.
When the school changed from Philadelphia Biblical University to Cairn University it was my team’s job to communicate that change and let people know what our new name was all about.

What is a Cairn?

Throughout human history, men and women all over the world have piled stones to serve as memorials and markers. The stones marked boundaries and important events – ones worth remembering for generations to come.

Stones are piled at trail crossings as well. They mark a road to be taken, a danger to be avoided, or a spring or well at which travelers can be refreshed.

After crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, the children of Israel were commanded to pile stones for a high purpose [Joshua 4]. When the coming generation asked for the meaning of the stones, they could then be reminded of the great faithfulness of God. The stones stood as a silent memorial and an ongoing testimony.  Joshua instructs the people of God to place markers and set down guideposts as they went into exile so that they might know the way to return. These piles of stones provided direction.

Places and Moments

Although we see physical Cairns in this passage and physical cairns when hiking mountains that help keep us on the right path, a cairn isn’t always the actual pile of stones; it’s the places and moments in each of our journeys.  We each have different people, places, and moments that make up the cairns of our lives.

For me Cairn University was my cairn [ironic]. It was a time in my life when I grew immensely.  I learned what it meant to work with a team, to promote a place that I strongly believe in, and most important, had the incredible blessing of getting to know people who changed my life.

I’m grateful for this cairn. For Cairn University.  In the future, I know I will look back and see how God worked during this time in my life. We each have different cairns in our lives: the people, places and times that we can look back on as times that were integral parts of our life where we can see God at work.  What  are your cairns?