Rocky

        It would seem that I'm learning more than I expected in many of my classes this semester. In my Geology class, we've learned about some neat stuff that I found was much more applicable to my life than I thought possible. I mean really...how can you apply rocks to your life?

        Well, not too long ago we discussed the different types of rock, geologically speaking. There are three--igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. I won't bore you with the details, but I've discovered that, in a way, I'm in the process of becoming a metamorphic rock (metaphorically speaking. Wow, lots of long 'm' words around here). In layman's terms, metamorphic rocks are rocks that have gone through a metamorphic phase and become something new entirely, usually due to heat and pressure. For example, granite is a type of igneous rock. It's quite lovely to look at, lots of cool little gray, black and white speckles. But if a piece of this lovely granite becomes partially melted and subjected to the right amount of pressure, the composition of the rock will change entirely--the bonds between the different atoms in the rock will break and realign. The rock doesn't melt down completely though--then it would just turn into magma and later become an igneous rock. After it hardens, instead of just having granite, you have something else entirely--a metamorphic rock called Gneiss, which is pretty awesome looking. 

What a Gneiss rock...

        That's all fine and dandy, but what does that have to do with me, you ask?

        I'm, metaphorically speaking, a rock of some sort. I have my strengths, my flaws, my breaking points, etc. Right now, I'm undergoing a lot of heat and pressure--preparing to get married, trying to stay on top of things at school and at work, keep my body healthy, maintain relationships with family, etc. and on top of all these everyday things, there are of course problems that arise. Unexpected setbacks and disappointments...trials and adversity...there's always something, in some form or another. Under all of this heat and pressure, I am being metaphorically metamorphosed (oh, how I love alliteration..) into something completely new. God is transforming me, day by day, from the flawed rock that I am into the solid, flawless stone that I need to be. Sure, it's hard to undergo so much, especially when I might've been happy with that old flawed rock that I was before, but God needs me to be more. And best of all, though sometimes I might be feeling the heat, God's not going to let me melt down completely. Just enough to mold me into what he needs me to be.

         Isn't that a Gneiss thought? (Haha...ha...ok well my Geology teacher probably would've laughed..)


Photo from 


http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/169553/enlarge