TUMBLED

     I love "before and after" pictures!  Maybe it's because my husband has a renovation company -- I've watched with wonder, for years, what happens when permission is given to tear down the old and replace it with new.  The results are always amazing (and so is my renovator).

     But this week, I experienced a new type of "before and after", while visiting with a friend.  She introduced me to their rock tumbling machine, showing me what the rocks look like before they go in and then the gorgeous examples of what comes out at the end.  The "after" is so stunning, it's hard to fathom they came from the "before" rocks.

     When I learned the process takes a whole month of their machine running non-stop, 24 hours a day, only pausing to add different grades of grit, I was even more impressed.  That's 720 hours of being tumbled.

     Have you ever felt "tumbled" as a mom?  I have.  In fact, I relate to the 24 hour a day feeling too, don't you?

     Sometimes I feel like one of the rocks in my friend's machine.  I think these tumbling experiences will never end...I'm sure the "grit" I'm dealing with couldn't possibly do any good in my life...and I'm positive the end result may look worse than the beginning.  But that's because I'm the rock; not the operator.

     God is the "operator" in our lives and He allows us to be "tumbled" from time to time because He's in the process of making something very unique and beautiful in each of us.  Often we can't see past the grit and chaos to appreciate the beauty; but it's there.  The "before" and "after" pictures promise something stunning...but we can't quite see that far yet.

     That's the joy and challenge of motherhood.  We're often being "tumbled" but our wildest dreams can't conjure what good could be in this for us...but God can!


     As I've stumbled through certain weeks, I sometimes find myself wondering if God remembers that He's left His tumbling machine turned on, with me in it.  But the Bible tells us in Romans 8 that, "In ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him," and this truth reminds me that God never tumbles anything in my life without reason and purpose.

     If you're feeling "tumbled" this week, take time to stop and reflect on some truths from God's Word that will remind your heart that God is in charge.  He will not let you be tumbled longer than necessary.  But He is in the process of creating a masterpiece of a mom!

"So (Jeremiah) went down to the potter's house, 

and I saw him working at the wheel...

then the word of the Lord came to me.  

He said...'Like clay in the hand of the potter, 

so are you in My hand.'" 

Jeremiah 18:3&6