A STORY OF STONES

Kyle was beginning to think that he was never going to get home. He felt like he

had walked for hours and the sun was starting to go down behind the hills. It was sort of

scary, but not so much that he was going to start crying or anything. After all, he was

nine years old now and nine year old boys just didn’t cry… no matter what. The coat that he was wearing was warm enough to keep out the wind but inside

Kyle was still shivering a little bit. Kyle thought of his dad and mom sitting at home waiting for him

to get home from school and he knew that they would be worried sick by now because he

had not arrived on time like he was supposed to.

Leaving school every day by himself was boring so today Kyle thought to himself

that he would do a little exploring on the way home. Sure he knew that he wasn’t

supposed to, but he was old enough, he thought, to take care of himself and make some

decisions. He turned left into the grasslands instead of turning right toward his home.

The grasslands had given way to trees and the trees turned into heavy forest. Before he

realized it, he found that he really didn’t know the way home. He was hungry and thirsty

and missed his dad and mom a lot. There was a little stream not far away. He decided that it would be a good place

to stay for the night and let other people come and find him. There were plenty of pine

branches around so he could make himself a little bed out of them and could even use

them as covers to help keep warm. The little stream was inviting so Kyle sat near it and

picked up some little stones and put them into his jacket pocket. After gathering some pine tree branches he was finally

able to make a bed comfortable enough to lie down on without getting stuck by rocks and

big sticks. Kyle put his head down and drifted off to sleep.

Some hours later; The water in the little stream was ice cold but it felt good when Kyle splashed

some of it on his face to help himself wake up. Kyle pulled out the little stones and examined them closely. Some of them were

really rough and had sharp edges that dirt and sand had been caught in them. The other

ones were smooth. He wondered how the stones that were smooth get the way? Did

something happen to them that had not happened to the rough ones? He thought to

himself that he would ask his dad about this next time they were sitting around talking at

the dinner table. As it turned out Kyle really had not walked very far into the woods. In fact,

within fifteen minutes, he and his father had reached the family truck and were headed

home. Kyle’s dad wasn’t saying much but he could tell that he was really disappointed in

him. His eyes looked sad.

Later at dinner

Eating everything in sight didn’t work. Soon there was no more food on his plate

and asking for “thirds” was out of the question. And, besides, his skin just wasn’t going

to stretch that far. Kyle’s mom spoke first. She said “Kyle, I found some little stones in

your jacket pocket when I went to put it in the washing machine.” She continued. “I’ve

been thinking about them all day long and when I mentioned them to your father we

decided that we could use them to make you understand what you did and how you can

learn from your mistake. I’m not saying that we’re thrilled with your actions or anything

but rather than punishing you in the normal way we usually would we’ve decided that

learning a lesson is more valuable to your right now than suffering a bad punishment.”

Kyle didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. It was even hard to look them

in the eyes right now because he felt so bad about what he had done. All day long he was

thinking of a way he could tell his parents how sorry he was and that he would never do

anything like that again. Now it seemed that he was going to be let off the “trouble”

hook.

Kyle’s dad said “Kyle, there were quite a few stones in your pocket. Was there

anything special about them that made you save them?” Kyle said, “no, I just thought

they were kind of neat. I did wonder why some of them were rough and some of them

were smooth. In fact, I was going to ask you about that when we talked some time.

That’s interesting.” Kyle’s dad said “because they are what I want to talk to you

about.” He put the stones on the kitchen table and laid them out in a row. The rough

ones he put in the top row and the smooth ones in another row at the bottom. Kyle

thought to himself “what in the world is he doing?” His dad said “Kyle look at the row

of stones at the top. They are rough and the ridges are filled with dirt and sand. Then

look at the smooth ones. Do you notice any difference?” Kyle said, “Yes, I can see what

you’re talking about.” His father asked, “Where did you gather these stones? “I found

them on the shore near the little stream I was sitting by last night, Kyle said.”

Kyle’s dad continued. “You said you were interested in knowing why some of

the stones were rough while the others were smooth. I can answer that for you but first

tell me why you think they are different.” “Well,” Kyle said, “I guess that the reason that

the ones in the top row are so rough and dirty is because they weren’t able to be washed

by the water and cleaned up.” “That’s right,” his dad said. “And what about the smooth

stones?” “Probably the water tossed the rough stones around that fell into the water and

beat the rough edges off of them so they became smooth.” “That’s right,” his dad said.

“Can you see how there might be a lesson these stones can teach us? Kyle thought for a

moment but didn’t get it.

His dad continued. “Let me explain. When we are born we are all covered with

rough edges and filled with dirt. As we go through life some of those rough edges get

worn away and we become a little smoother. Some of the dirt though doesn’t go away.

There always seems to be just a little bit more that we can’t get rid of no matter how

much we get into the stream of life. Last night you took a little dip into the stream of life

and had some of your rough edges worn away. You became a little bit smoother on the

outside. But I’m seeing a little bit more dirt on the inside. And I have some of it too and

so does your mom. Everybody living has dirt inside of them and even though we try to

wash it away by diving into the stream of life it never seems to totally get out of us. We

can look all smooth on the outside but inside we are still filled with dirt. Nobody can see

it but it is still there.

He continued “now I know that we go to Sunday school and church every Sunday

and we learn all sorts of valuable lessons. But maybe God has taken it into His own

hands to teach us another lesson with your stones. I can see all of the rough stones with

sharp edges as you, your mom and me. We have dirt inside of us that needs to be cleaned

out. But, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t get clean. Jesus knew that when he

came to live with us over two thousand years ago. He decided that He would become our

little stream. He is the only person that can wash all of the dirt out of us and make us

clean on the inside and smooth on the outside. There is nothing we can do. He does it

all. That is why He is called the Spring Of Living Water in the Bible. He washes all of

the dirt away for us. All we have to do is allow Him to do it. Best of all, His washing is

always free. He paid the price already.

I know that you feel bad about what you did last night and so do we. We were

scared to death and worried that we would never see you again. But then we remembered

that you were a Christian and that God would be watching over you. And He did. He

helped you remember how to make a shelter and reminded you that you should stay in

one place and let other people find you instead of trying to find your way home. We are

so thankful for His watching over you. But now you are home and all three of us have

had to take a little dip in the stream of life. I know we’ve learned how important we are

to one another as a family and are equally sure that you will never go wondering off

alone again. Isn’t that right Kyle?” Kyle shook his head yes but didn’t dare look up into

the eyes of his parents. After all, he was nine years old now, and nine year old boys just

didn’t cry… no matter what!