See these beauties?
Look closely at the details of each one: the colors, the layers, the designs.
Aren’t they stunning?
This one is my particular favorite,
closely followed by the pure simplicity of this one.
What’s amazing is they started out looking like this.
Just some dirty old rocks that all look pretty much the same.
Fudge received a rock tumbler for Christmas. It was the perfect gift for a patient little girl who also happens to enjoy collecting rocks. It took four weeks of patience, along with a lot of grit of various grades mixed with water to form a black mucky sludge to rub and grind away the rough edges as the rocks tumbled and tumbled round and round.
The rocks went through tremendous heat and pressure in their creation deep within the earth causing complex layers and patterns. If you examined them closely you could see the potential within. Beyond the crusty dirt you notice the subtle stripes of color, patterns weaving, criss-crossing. Each had a hidden beauty which still needed a refining process to bring it to light, to show its true self.
Here we are, each of us beautiful creations of God, who also still need to be refined through trials and hardships which rub and bump the rough edges off and polish us smooth until our true self, our hidden beauty, is brought to the surface for all to see. Unlike the rocks it will take much longer than just a month, or a year or even fifty years.
It takes a lifetime.
A lifetime of trials and troubles, bumps and bruises. Polishing doesn’t happen when life is easy and the sailing is smooth. It happens in the rough and tumble of everyday interactions. Learning to be patient, forgiving, kind in a world that sometime seems to only be a slurry of mud.
Someday the magical time will come when the gritty muck is washed away and what is revealed will be glorious. We will be as polished rocks.
“Trust in the Lord. Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain” (Richard G. Scott, Trust in the Lord).
Beautiful! I love your analogies. These photos remind me of a favorite song of mine by LDS artist Doug Walker. The song (and album) is called “Stones in the River”. He sings “like stones in a river we are tossed and turned”
Thank you so much for this post. I really needed it this morning. I also read the article by Elder Scott that you linked to and it answered many questions I have been struggling with. I have been going through a particularly painful struggle and I am going to try to keep this image in mind as I “tumble.” Thank you.
Beautiful rocks! I sensed where this was going and I love your analogy.
Ooh, I want to know what tumbler you got! My daughter would be on cloud 9 if I bought her one, but when I looked they were all so pricey and the reviews weren’t great. We have rocks EVERYWHERE from our collector and I’m sure some of them would turn out beautiful like this too.
I have always wanted a rock tumbler, because of the very analogy you have made. Nature is the greatest object lesson teacher!
Thank you for reminding me of a precious experience in my life. The night before Benjamin’s funeral was a Monday night. We asked my mom if she would give a FHE lesson for us. I had delivered and held that precious baby boy two days earlier, and the following day I would see him buried. My mom used this same object lesson. She had been tumbling rocks in a borrowed tumbler during the weeks before she came, and she gave each of us a beautiful, smooth rock and explained the lesson in a simple, powerful way. I still have mine, and it makes me think of the beauty that has come into my life because of that particular trial.
What an amazing analogy!! Thank you!!! I see a few people already asked about the rock tumbler I was wondering what kind you got as well. My oldest son loves collecting and studying rocks and I would love to be able to get him a good tumbler.
Thank you for your wonderful posts they are nice to wake up too!! 🙂
Those rocks are just gorgeous! I had a rock tumbler as a kid, but I never polished anything quite so colorful! What a beautiful post. Thank you!
Jessa @ Shalom Sweet Home
I would also love to know what tumbler you got. The only ones I have seen are really just plastic held together with spit! 🙂 I would love to get one for my middle son who would be thrilled beyond belief if he got one to play with.
The rocks are beautiful. It always astounds and amazes me the tiny little details we often miss that Heavenly Father has placed here on this earth for us to enjoy. Nature is amazing!
What beautiful rocks! Thanks for sharing the quote from Elder Scott, it was a perfect reminder for me this morning.
What a patient girl you have! The rocks are beautiful, and the patterns would make beautiful fabric. I love the object lesson!
I never comment on blogs but had to thank you for this beautiful analogy and the stunning rocks. I am going to get a rock tumbler because I love rocks and also because they would be a great give away for people going through very hard times in their life. Thank you for your wonderful posts. I love them.
Thanks for leaving a comment, Donna! I think we will be making the rocks into pendants for necklaces for each of the girls so they can remember the same thing during their trials. They are being polished!