Stony paths--Strong Shoes

The old Irish proverb says:

If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.

Life rolls along pretty calmly for the most part. Most of the time we try to avoid the challenges that are in the middle of the road. But there are times when you can't, and must therefore put on your "strong shoes" and just plow through.

We wear our own shoes out. We haven't placed enough rubber into the "souls". That is when the extra layers are added onto our "souls" by Someone who has tread this road before and who knows what those rocks feel like.
The rocks never go away...

They simply become a part of you. They help to shape who you will eventually become. They become a part of your soul.

Eventually when you have reached the end of that stony road, you can look back and see how far you have come.