Even the Rocks Cry Out

Today at Sunday School, we had a wonderful guest speaker.  Her message was about rocks and how they have impacted her life, and not just because she loves to collect them.  Her interest in them has caused references to rocks in the Bible to stand out as key verses in her life.  Psalm 18:2 - The Lord is my Rock and my fortress.  God is a Rock.  Rocks were used to solidify covenants, build fortresses, to kill giants and to be shelter in the storms.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem and his disciples were loudly praising Him, the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke them.  Instead, He turned to the Pharisees and said, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)

Not only was her testimony beautiful, she also gave us all a rock.  That doesn't sound really special when I say it like that, but it really was.  She brought a basket of rocks and had us pass them around and pick one that spoke to us.  These weren't just any old rocks out of a driveway either.  There were some really neat ones.  I'm a nerd for this stuff too, so I took a bit of time carefully selecting mine.  There was a really cool jagged one with a leaf fossil in it.  An eternal reminder of the delicate details in God's creation and how He cares for the smallest things.  There was also one that had a perfect little seat in it, like a crook in an elbow... smooth for rubbing and being reminded of the safety and rest in God's presence.  There were so many to choose from, but I eventually settled on a rectangular one.  Smooth on one side and rough on the other, it was made of golden ripples.  Not like water had eroded ripples into it, but that each layer of the rock had developed in a ripple pattern.  Smooth and solid, but rippled and shimmering.  Just recently I posted about ripples in a pond.

I chose that particular rock as a reminder to myself.  A reminder that we have been called by God to move when He asks us to.  A reminder that things will ever ebb and flow and, while I might not like change, it is my duty to adapt gracefully.  A reminder that I must constantly seek Him so that I can be refilled and renewed.

What are the chances, really, that a rock with ripples would be in that basket?  I've never seen a rock like that before in my life.  Then another woman shared that she had almost picked that particular rock... Whew!  I'm sure glad she didn't.  God used that rock to speak to me today.  To remind me that the post that was so agonizing for me to write was truly what God wanted me to say.  Regardless of what anyone else says, regardless of my own internal struggles, when God speaks, I have to listen.  Even when He speaks through a rock.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 28, 2013 at 10:47 PM

    I've been to a similar Sunday school class and I have always looked at rocks a little differently ever since.

    Courtney
    www.whatwithwhat.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NicoleJanuary 29, 2013 at 9:46 PM

      I found the rock I chose in my purse the other day and smiled. :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Despicable Shadow Puppets

Image
We watched Despicable Me today.  At the end, when they do the shadow puppets I had an idea.  I remember when I was little that my mom went through this silhouette phase in her artwork and made us kids pose for silhouettes.  I didn't like my own silhouette, even as a child. I also remember loving to do shadow puppets, and the very few times my mom would get out the old projector to show us slides, we would ask to have time with just the light on the sheet so we could play shadow puppets.  So my brilliant idea today, since we use a projector to watch movies instead of having a big, expensive TV taking up space, was to pause on a good spot and let the kids pose.  Here is what we came up with.  Not without a little begging and pleading on my end!  Two bunnies hopping towards a duck   Two ducks quacking at a bunny   Butterfly   Guy with mohawk   First shadow puppet ever...not sure what she is going fo...
Read more

Peanut Butter and Bananas

Growing up, my favorite sandwich in the world (when it came to peanut butter at least), was a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich.  Crunchy peanut butter made it better.  My best friend's favorite sandwich was peanut butter, banana, and honey. "Gross!" I said. "Gross!" she said.  We both agreed that we wouldn't know until we tried it.  So, one day in her kitchen, we made our favorite sandwiches.  She sliced her bananas as I wrinkled up my nose.  I sprinkled brown sugar as she looked nervously at me from the corner of her eye.  We presented one another with our beloved sandwiches.  We had to try.  To understand one another a little better.  Just one bite... That's all it took.  And we switched right back.  She finished hers, and I finished mine.  Right now, I am sitting on the couch eating a frozen banana with peanut butter drizzled on top.  It is amazing.  Who would have thought that over twent...
Read more

Real Bread. The Second Half.

Image
For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, ...
Read more