Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Throwing rocks and skipping stones

I had a really interesting dream last night and I woke up thinking about Lake Maud.  I have blogged before about my family lake home in northern Minnesota that we always just referred to as "the lake".  So I started to search my scanned photos for a perfect picture for this blog.  I ended up with this picture.......
I think I love this picture so much because it was one of Doug's first fishing experiences.  Now he is an expert fisherman.  It was a special time for me to share Lake Maud with Ken and Gwen and Doug. So, back to my dream......

I was standing on the shore, very close to that dock.  I was throwing rocks into the water. 

 I spent HOURS and HOURS of my life doing exactly that.  I was the youngest kid among all the nearby cabins and often I would be left to my own devices.  I often just collected rocks and tried to thrown them far out into the lake.  My dad used to say I was going to make the lake shallower because of all of the rocks I added to the bottom.  

In the dream I was watching the rocks make wonderful circles that just spread out further and further.  I heard the Lord speak these words to me......
Take a risk.  Throw your stone further.  Pick up the biggest stone you can find and throw it as far as you can.  That will make the biggest mark on the water and send ripples pouring outward that will hit the shoreline and change it.  Trust me to show you which rock to pick up.  Sometimes it is the small flat stone that, if thrown correctly, will skip along the water and make mark after mark after mark.  Each of these will spiral outward and together make a bigger change than one large stone.  Trust me.  Don't be distracted by the stones that are right at your feet.  Look up to me and I will show you what is the best for you. Trust me to give you exactly the right the stone.

Part of my stone throwing was, in fact, skipping stones.  Lake Maud had a large supply of perfect skipping stones.  I would search and search for perfect stones to skip.  I remember that one time I actually had a stone skip 10 times!  And then there was the very end of the word in the dream.......

Even though your feet never leave the shore, you are making waves that will change the world.  

This is a wonderful word picture for all of us to hold on to.  There are lots of ways that we can  have an impact on the world.  For some of us, it might be doing something that is really "big" and makes a big splash.  For others, it will be something that might seem smaller, but when it is something that Jesus has planned, just like that smooth flat stone, it will skip over the water and those rings of change will reach far and wide.   And the skipping stones are often small and very light.  The most important message of the entire dream is that each of us can have a part in changing the world.  And we can make those changes right where we are planted.  Wherever our "shore" is! 

I don't know about you, but I needed a reminder that we can't always see the impact we are having for the Kingdom.  I am always quick to see my own lack of "doing" for the Lord.  It seems so easy to look around and find many, many people who are doing big wonderful things for Jesus.  A good friend reminded me yesterday that we are own best critics.  We need to see ourselves using that exact stone that Jesus has for us.  However small it might seem.  We can stand back and watch those ripples moving outward!  

Jesus, thank you for speaking to me in dreams.  Holy Spirit, help me to remember that all I need to do is what Jesus asks of me.  I don't need to worry about throwing a big rock!  Jesus, thank you for reminding us that even small actions can have large impacts that can change the world.  Amen

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