User:Rodpotter/sandbox/Libre office to Wikitex



The Rock, the Garden, and the Fire Within

To illustrate how adversity can change us, I would like to retell an allegory that has been told many times.

There was a man who was sickly and about to die. He prayed that he could do something of service in his last days to get a reward in heaven. In a dream that night, the Lord told him that in the morning, a huge rock would appear in his front yard. He was to push on the rock. When he got up in the morning, sure enough, there was the huge round rock. Right after breakfast he went out and pushed kicked, shoved, and with whatever he did, he could not move the rock. Of course he was sickly and weak and about to die!

He pushed on the rock all day and finally crashed into bed exhausted. Each day he got up and proceeded to push on the rock. This went on for weeks. Try as he might, the rock didn't seem to move one inch. Then one day, Satan showed up. "You can't move that rock!" he said. Youâ€™ve been at it for weeks and it hasn't moved one inch. Why don't you just give up?

The man ignored him and just kept pushing. Finally, the man was very discouraged. He told the Lord that he had been pushing on the rock for months and it hadn't moved an inch. That night, he had another dream. The Lord told him: "You've been faithful and have pushed on the rock. Remember, I didn't tell you to move the rock, but only to push on it. Look at yourself in the mirror. As he looked, he saw that his previously skinny arms were big and muscular. His spindly legs were thick and healthy and his narrow sunken chest was now broad and strong.

The Lord smiled at him and looked him in the eyes. "I was not trying to change the rock. I was trying to change *YOU*"

In conclusion, We are all born with challenges. Some are more difficult than others, but it isn't the challenge that defines us. It is how we respond to the challenges of life that makes us who we are.

I would like to compare our lives to a garden. At birth, we are given a plot of ground. We must define what we do with the piece of ground we are given. Some of us are given very fertile soil. It is very easy to till the ground, throw out a few seeds, and up comes whatever we plant. If we don't till and plant, weeds will grow very fast and soon deplete the ground of it's rich potential.

Still others

Some of us are given ground with rocks that first must be removed, fertilizer must be added, and then we can grow whatever we wish. Defining our garden takes work, but all is possible. are given a piece of ground with big rocks, that can't be moved. Ours is an almost impossible task. As we work to define what our ground will become, we discover that we can fertilize between the rocks, grow beautiful roses and other flowers and have a beautiful rock garden.

Since we live in Utah and not Hawaii, we must constantly water and weed our garden. Otherwise, all will be lost. Whatever ground we are given, we define what it will be and how it will grow. What a great opportunity to make our lives into something beautiful and productive. Our work not only benefits us. Everyone around us will be able to enjoy our beautiful and productive garden.

Remember! The fire within will test our metal, and can forge a beautiful statue, or leave us with only charred remains. Only WE can define who we will be!

Thank you for all you do.

With Love,

Your home teachers