Polished Rocks and Treading Water

Four words –   treading water and polished rocks.  (I guess that’s five words if you count the “and.”  But who counts “ands”…seriously?) 

When I think of my favorite family vacation growing up it would have to be our trip to Cody, Wyoming.  Why?  Because I learned how to tread water and I bought polished rocks.  Who doesn’t buy polished rocks on a vacation in Wyoming?  Oh sure, you can visit Yellowstone, go a rodeo, experience a dude ranch or learn about Buffalo Bill.  But until you have purchased polished rocks, you haven’t actually had a successful Wyoming experience. 

I still remember what my polished rocks looked like.  I kept them in a little pouch and would pull them out once in a while to organize and admire them. 

It is quite a process to polish your own rocks.  I remember my dad buying a polishing machine and setting it up in our garage.  We loaded it with rocks from the neighborhood.  The sound of the polisher churning and turning was an incredibly loud, not to mention long process.  But it’s worth it.  In the end the rocks shine.  Their true colors come through.  They are smooth to the touch.  They are beautiful.  

Do you ever feel like one of the rocks?  A little rough around the edges – waiting to be polished, shined and made beautiful?  Sure, it takes time and the process hurts a little sometimes.  But it is worth it.  Each time we are polished we become a little more beautiful.  And just like the best part of a Wyoming experience is the polished rocks –the best part of life’s experience is becoming refined and polished!

The other thing I’ll always remember about Cody, Wyoming is learning how to tread water.  We talked our dad into taking us out to the pool one evening.  He played with us for what seemed like hours.  Dads are so good about getting the pool – even when it’s cold or dark.  My husband does that with our kids too.  I like to sit on the edge where it’s warm and dry and cheer them on.  But not dads.  They get in.  And this time in the pool, He took me to the deep end where the water was well above my head.  He taught me how to move my arms and legs so that my head stayed above the water.  It was fun.  I liked it.  I liked knowing that if I had to survive in deep water I could.  I treaded water for the rest of the night. 

Some days it feels like all we do is tread water.  And there are times when our heads are barely above the water line.  But we keep going.  We keep trying.  Because eventually we know we get to rest on the side and have little reprieves here and there until life gets busy and we tread again. 

Ultimately all the polishing and treading makes us strong.  It brings out our true colors and our beauty.  We come to know that we can survive the difficult things.  We can keep our lives above water.  We can go through the Refiner’s fire.  And in the end it will be worth it!