Smooth Stones

Over last summer, every place that we went it seemed like Brett collected rocks. At first I didn't know what to do with all of these rocks. I was definitely not very happy about keeping a bunch of rocks. Brett didn't want to get rid of any of his rocks, what was I to do, They all came with us. As I looked at the rocks, I noticed something. They were all smooth, like silky smooth. Then I got to thinking, and I remembered this EFY song.

four years old at his front door
watches while his daddy drives away
he knows that something's wrong
when he sees the tears on momma's face
and his whole life will change

teenage boy just down the road
suffering from choices in his life
he's turning to the lord
changing, getting stronger with time
but never knew it was so hard

like stones in the river
we are tossed and turned
when the current moves so strong
but stones in living waters over time
are shaped until the edges are gone
polished and smooth, that's what we will be
if we put ourselves in god's hands
each day of our lives is a gift from the giver
to smooth all the edges
like stones in the river

it's been three weeks since the last card of sympathy arrived
her love of thirty years is gone
she wonders how she will survive on her own

standing on the curb one winter night
they watch their house burn to the ground
family pictures, every keepsake
even her wedding gown
are they always gone?

like stones in the river
we are tossed and turned
when the current moves so strong
but stones in living waters over time
are shaped until the edges are gone
polished and smooth, that's what we will be
if we put ourselves in god's hands
each day of our lives is a gift from the giver
to smooth all the edges
like stones in the river

the trials of our lives can work for our good
if we let the savior's love surround us
he'll find us

like stones in the river
we are tossed and turned
when the current moves so strong
but stones in living waters over time
are shaped until the edges are gone
polished and smooth, that's what we will be
if we put ourselves in god's hands
each day of our lives is a gift from the giver
to smooth all the edges
like stones in the river

to smooth all the edges
like stones in the river

When I first found this song, it really touched my soul. I sometimes feel like I have a lot of trials, mostly because I don't learn my lesson the first time. I have gotten to the point that when I am going through a trial, I think to myself, "What does the Lord want me to learn?" When I found this song, I really felt like it confirmed my thought. The Lord is shaping and molding me to becoming the best that I can be. Smooth stones are more desirable then the rough ones. However, they all start out a little rough. I am a work in Progress.

There are a lot of really smart men in our ward. One that I really love and admire, was our stake president. This man is phenomenal, he was speaking at stake conference once and he said that you would never walk past a building under construction with all of its wires showing and say, "man that is one ugly building." or " it will never be anything that great, what an eye sore." Why would you not say that? Because you know that it is under construction, you know that it is in its early stages. Eventually it will be a beautiful building, give it time. Our stake president goes on to say, "then why do we do say these things about each other? We are all works in progress, only time will tell how someone will turn out." I am a work in progress.

So I ask you to give people the benefit of the doubt, they too, just like you are, a work in Progress.