So what do you know about rocks? Some are hard, some smooth, some rough, some float, some shimmer, some sparkle and some even shine!

My rock sat atop a lovely mountainside, connected to a most excellent boulder of support. There came a time though that the boulder could no longer hold my rock and so my rock was split from the boulder. It tumbled a little along with other rocks down the mountain and stopped for awhile near some low growth. My rock was by no means smooth, shimmery or shiny. No, it had rough edges, jagged from the boulder it broke from. During the low growth visit, my rock weathered many storms, rain, wind, ice and snow. Over time the low growth died and the soil underneath fell away. My rock began a tumultuous tumble down the mountain, at times free falling down the cliffs. Landings were fast and hard, slowing only long enough to roll over and over before falling again. My rock journeyed for a long time down that mountainside and finally rested at the edge of a river. The soft earth underneath provided my rock with a cushion to settle on while the river waters rushed over the top. Sometimes the river would force my rock to roll over other rocks for a time. Sometimes other rocks would roll over my rock for a time. Always taking little bits of my rock’s edges with it. Until the day, I discovered my rock.

I was walking along the ocean beach, looking for shells but only finding pebbles. I looked for a long time until I finally gave up and sat down to watch the ocean waves come in with the tide. It was in the wave, my rock, rolling and crashing to the beach until it rested on the sand. I hurried to it before the next wave came in to claim it. It was perfectly smooth, perfectly rounded with no edges. It shimmered in places and reflected the light from it’s shine. My rock had made the journey of a lifetime. Just like all of us.

We are being smoothed and rounded. Our edges are being chiseled and softened as we struggle to learn our place in this world. We will fear it, and yet, we will still fall and tumble. We will enjoy it too, and roll with it. Life is about the journey. Each moment part of the making of our truest self. Our most beautiful, real self. In the end, it will not be the individual moments of the journey down the mountains, over the riverbeds and into the ocean, but the final uniquely lovely and glorious you that has been created by that journey. That is why we need to embrace each moment, as rough as we feel it may be. Because every single moment is smoothing our edges into someone who shines.

Blessings & Love, Carrie Ruth