I am pondering. Pondering, you might say, about ponds. Like when a pebble goes in the water pondering. As a child, we lived in a neighborhood with access to a small lake, Pine Lake. Boats are allowed on the lake only if the have a very small powered motor, or if it is powered by a person and a paddle. As a result, the surface of the lake is always very smooth. We would sit on the dock, my siblings or friends and I, especially when it was too cold to swim (often)and fish or throw in objects, watching to see how far the concentric rings created by the splash of a pebble would last. If two rocks were put into the lake at the same time, the rings would cross and blend before dissipating.
Texas is far, far away from that small little lake in Washington State. But, my thoughts often go there, remembering the peace, happy memories, and that cold, cold water.
So often I hear people say that our choices are our own, and they are. We really are the ones that decide when and where to drop the pebbles. The thing about those, pebbles, though, is that they create concentric rings that continue on for a really long time. Sometimes the path for those circles cross other circles from other pebbles. It is not really obvious when the waves really stop. Each circle becomes larger and larger, encompassing more and more surface area. With a lot of pebbles, crossing another circle is a given.
We make our choices, but each choice puts in motion a wave or ripple that will affect someone else. What kind of effect will my choices make? When and where will my ripple cross another? Will my ripple change the course of another? Should it? Or, should I just make the best ripple I can with my own little pebbles, knowing that the physics and laws put in place by a loving Heavenly Father will still create beauty, no matter how I choose to place my pebble?
