Stone by Stone

I regularly travel down the Zenith Road. I'm usually flying down it in my car in my quest to make it from my house to some event in Stafford on time. Let's face it: When I'm hurrying to get from Point A to Point B, I don't always pay attention. The scenery flies by my window, but it doesn't make much of an impression.

But, once in awhile, my pace is a little more sedate. Maybe I'm driving a grain truck to the Kanza Co-op's Zenith branch. It could be another trip to get fertilizer and haul it back to the field for Randy. On those days when I'm forced to slow down, I see more. If the windows are down in the truck or pickup, I hear the birds. I feel the breeze blowing my hair. I smell freshly cut hay. I truly see - with all my senses.

On one of those days, a big stone barn caught my attention. Now, I go by that barn several times a week. Much of the time, it doesn't even register. But as I thought about Lovely Branches Ministries' September theme, Foundations, the stone barn again came to mind.

I don't know exactly when the barn was built. But the house at the same farmstead was constructed in 1908 - more than 100 years ago. And while the barn isn't in pristine condition, it isn't falling to pieces like many of the wooden barns that dot the Kansas countryside.

A wooden barn that's falling down - But notice the cross highlighted in the light. Pretty cool, too!

We can only imagine the work that went into building that stone barn. I'm sure it was backbreaking to lift each stone into place and meticulously cement them together. A firm foundation was essential - from the ground up and as each and every layer of stone was added.

What a metaphor for our faith! Where is our foundation? Is it built on solid ground? Is it carefully stacked so that it can withstand the storms of life that inevitably come our way?

I Peter 2: 4-5 says:  

The Living Stone and a Chosen People
⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NIV)

I want my life to be built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. Just like those long-ago workers worked tirelessly to place stone after stone, I need to build my house on the Solid Rock, not on shifting sand, like it says in that long ago Sunday School song, "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" based on Luke 6: 48-49.

And I want Christ's light - the Light of the World - to shine through me - just as surely as a Kansas sunset is reflected in the windows of a sturdy old barn.

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Stack your plate with veggies, rice, garbanzo beans and lean beef in this tasty Farmer's Market Salad. 

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