July 8 Rock Garden Update

Friday:  Just a few pictures of my painted rocks ... I've been working hard on them! There is a story behind this BIG rock. First of all, I wanted very badly to use Isaiah 44.22 on a rock ... but it was kind of a LOT of words to put on a rock. I knew I would need a very BIG ROCK. A few weeks ago, I was in my tiny side yard and I noticed this very rock (below). I attempted to lift it, but I couldn't! Rats. I walked away from it for a day, but I couldn't get it out of my head. Hmmm. How to get it up the side stairs and into my house? I tried ROLLING it, which worked a little bit but I only rolled it to the bottom of my side stairs and then gave up. And there it sat ... for days!

Until one late morning I was out watering my side yard when Monty (our helpful neighbor on the next street) asked if I had a purpose for "parking" that huge rock where it was. I filled him in on what I wanted to do with it and before I knew it, he had lifted it up the stairs and plopped it on my wood table (where I work on painting my rocks). I thanked him profusely, and he left. There was only ONE problem. The rock was super dirty. I knew I would need to wash it--but even more difficult--it needed to be spray painted--which I certainly could not do inside my house. What to do?

I ruminated over that one for a few days until out of desperation I lifted it off my wood table down to my vinyl rug and then dragged it through my kitchen, front room, and onto my front porch. PERFECT. I laid down plastic garbage bags, rolled the rock on top of them and ... thus began my adventure with this big rock.

I won't bore you with how many times I scrapped the whole thing, grabbed the spray paint and sprayed this rock to death. I am not at all crazy about how the lettering looks but the main point is that it CAN BE READ: "I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to Me, for I have paid the price to set you free." (Isaiah 44.22). I cannot read that verse without getting chills, can you? MY sins--all of them--disappearing like the morning mist? MY insults and injuries to God just scattered away like some wispy clouds? And MORE than that, God's welcoming INVITATION to return to His arms in freedom, without any cost to me. I just knew this was what THIS rock had to say!

The rock was on my porch for almost three weeks. Monty loaned me the use of his workbench, which was perfect. He had witnessed me sitting on the floor of my deck with a paintbrush and wondered if perhaps it would be helpful to have a workbench. Yes, it was VERY helpful.

Yesterday, we loaded the finished rock onto his "dolly" and slowly and carefully took it down my front steps and put it in my little garden. This trip was quite a process and drew a little audience of neighbors. A lady down my street was driving by, stopped her car, introduced herself, told me she was a Christian, pulled out her phone and photographed each rock while reading the words out loud. She was a real encouragement to me!

I have more rocks to paint! Yes! I have found that I LOVE to paint rocks. I hope the Lord uses them to shout out His truth and His worth and what He has done for us.