Monday ponderings . . .

Source: google.com via Deborah on Pinterest

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."
~old Chinese proverb

It takes effort to make something beautiful out of the ordinary. Stones in their raw state need to be tumbled, sawn, ground, sanded, polished or subjected to numerous other techniques in order to bring out their very best qualities . . . and even the plainest stone looks beautiful after a little polish. (Those are raw diamonds on the left and polished ones on the right. They have yet to be cut and faceted.)

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Mary Frances on Pinterest

Another beautiful mystery of nature is the desert rose. Desert Rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with poikilotopic sand inclusions. A friend of ours down South has a whole cabinet filled with desert rose's he has collected through the years, and gave us one as a gift before we moved back up North. These form in the sand . . . a hostile arid place, where one doesn't expect to find something of such rare beauty . . . and yet, without it's hostile environment, it wouldn't be . . .

Source: s-olitude.tumblr.com via Sujata on Pinterest

Pearls are created when a spec of dirt gets into a clam shell and irritating the clam, it begins to form layers around this irritation, eventually turning it into a precious pearl . . . something beautiful, once again . . . created in a hostile environment.

It would seem . . . that things of rare beauty are oftimes created out of the plain and ordinary . . . hostile environments . . . and in the bashing about . . . bringing out their very best qualities.

And so it is with us, although there may be times that we could do with a little less bashing about and polishing . . . a few less challenges . . . it does us well to remember . . . that fire makes a pot stronger . . . and a bit of polishing makes us better people.

Source: shadesofgrace.org via Gina on Pinterest

So the next time you are facing hurdles and going through trials . . . just think . . . it could be that you're being honed into a diamond . . . or a pearl . . . or even a desert rose.

"The Divine Shepherd has a message of hope, strength, and deliverance for all. If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless. When we pluck the roses, we find we often cannot avoid the thorns which spring from the same stem." ~James E Faust

Just my thoughts this morning . . .

The sun was shining when I began this . . . and now it's not! What will this day bring. I have no idea, but whatever I am handed, I shall make the best of it. What else can you do?



There's a delicious Butterscotch Sauce in the English Kitchen today . . . that
I used to make this . . .



Cinnamon Toasted Brioche with Goat's Cheese and Butterscotch Sauce. Scrummo!! Seriously!