Today when Drew came over, it was to finish the last couple of things on my home improvement list. I’ve loved his daily cheerful arrival and have enjoyed listening to him sing along with the country music he loves. (To Drew’s credit, he’s learned to appreciate Michael Buble’, too.) I’ll miss him!

One of his last endeavors was to finish a bit of stone artwork the two of us came up with together. It’s a door mat made of beach stones set in front of our “door to nowhere” (which will one day lead to an outdoor deck). Drew filled the mat space with mortar, and I filled it with my favorite stones. After the mortar dried he sealed it, and we’ll all be stepping on it for years to come.

The mat has a special feature, a larger rock set amongst the smaller ones with my favorite “footsteps” Scripture on it. Drew’s cousin offered to try his laser etching machine on carving the verse directly into a rock, which turned out to be a tricky task, but it turned out great.

Some people think I have rocks in my head for all the beach stones at my house. They’re glued around picture and mirror frames, candles and clocks. My sister’s Scripture rocks are on my desk, and I have multi-colored rocks in a decorative bowl. That doesn’t count the 4 long shelves of rocks stored in my basement.

And God made them all. Since he frequently refers to himself as The Rock, I figure it’s ok.

Rocks factor into quite a few Bible stories, too. The patriarchs often stacked stones to make an altar upon which to make a sacrifice to God after something spectacular had happened. Later God instructed Joshua to stack 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River as tens of thousands of people passed through it on dry land (much like the Red Sea). God says those 12 stones are still there today. (Joshua 4:9)

He also told them to stack 12 stones at their very first campsite in the Promised Land, telling the people that when their children asked about their significance, they were to tell the story of God drying up the Jordan for them to cross over, a picture of his power.

Even the priests put something called “stones of remembrance” on the shoulder straps of their apron-like ephods. Then as they entered the temple to seek forgiveness of sins, the 12 tribes were represented, their names engraved on the stones.

David appreciated rocks, too, killing a giant with one carefully selected smooth stone. And Jacob had his head on a rock-pillow the night he dreamed of the ladder to heaven.

My humble door mat won’t have as grand a use as any of these biblical examples, but everyone who walks on it will be reminded that God can keep us from anything that threatens to ruin us, if we’ll just trust our footsteps to him. (Psalm 119:133)

Thank you, Drew.

There is “a time to gather stones together.” (Ecclesiastes 3:5)