The Potter and the Clay

I thought I would share a great story from Anne Graham Lotz's book Just Give Me Jesus.

You have probably heard a rendition of this before.

"A good friend of ours enjoys making pottery. The process of transforming wet, pliable, dull gray clay into beautiful bowls and vases and jugs and plates is fascinating. Our friend begins with a shapeless blob, which he places on the potter's wheel. As he spins the wheel, he gently caresses the clay, applying pressure with his fingers and palms. Beneath his skillful touch, the turning clay responds to the varying degrees of pressure until it begins to take the shape of what he has in his mind, whether it's a vase or plate or bowl or pitcher.

When the shape pleases him, our friend removes the clay from the wheel. He then paints it with beautiful designs, but the colors are dull and lifeless. At that stage, the quality of the colors makes it unattractive, and the softness of the clay renders it useless. So our friend places it with other vessels into a kiln, where he bakes the pieces for hours in heat that reaches 1,700 degrees F. When the pottery emerges, not only is it strong enough to use, but its colors are also brilliantly vivid. The heat transforms the weak clay into a useful vessel and transforms the dull, ugly colors into radiant beauty.

And so it is with our lives. Jesus makes the suffering understandable; as the Potter, He uses suffering as the pressure on the wet "clay" of our lives. Under His gentle, loving touch, our lives are molded into a "shape" that pleases Him. But the shape that is so skillfully wrought is not enough. He not only desires our lives to be useful, but He also wants our character to be radiant. And so He places us in the furnace of affliction until our "colors" are revealed-colors that reflect the beauty of His own character.

Without the preparation of the loving, skillful touch of the Potter's hand, any usefulness or beauty the clay might have would be destroyed by the pressure and heat. But Jesus makes suffering understandable to this blob of clay. In the midst of the pressure and the heat, I am confident His hand is on my life, developing my faith until I display His glory, transforming me into a vessel of honor that pleases Him! I don't trust any other potter with my life."



Jeremiah 18:3-6 "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel."



Lord, I pray everyday that as I yield myself to You, I become a vessel that is not only useful, but also reflects your glory. I confess that most days I feel like a big old blob of clay that you forgot to fashion into a beautiful vessel. I have such a long way to go, but I am so thankful that you have not given up on me. I am a work in progress.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. She is shown in the picture to the left with my Dad and Reagan. Isn't she pretty?

Mom, I just wanted you to know that I love you and I am so thankful for the great relationship that we have. I love that I can pick up the phone and talk to you about anything, regardless of the time of day. I can cry with you, share all my worries with you, list my pros and cons , get your advice and just laugh and talk with you. If you are busy you never let me know it. Even better than talking on the phone is getting together and just hanging out.

We are alike in so many ways. It is scary, really. We both worry needlessly....did you teach me this? We both have a terrible sense of direction. We both like to shop....but of course, we will walk the outlets for an entire day, but only buy one thing because we are both so cheap...I mean frugal. We both love to read. We both like to keep a journal. We are both interested in alternative health and I get to bring a lot of my questions to you. We both like a clean house and we like to cook. How many recipes have I gotten from you over the years? How many phone calls have you received from me while I was standing in the grocery store because I forgot which ingredient to buy or what cut of meat to get? We both love to walk for exercise. We both love the Fall season and all the great family times that come with that time of year. We would both consider our best friend to be our husband. You and Dad have a great love and you have always modeled a godly submission to him over the years, as well as a great respect for him. You guys showed me what a healthy marriage should look like and for that I am grateful. We are also alike in our love and devotion for our kids. I love both of my girls and I feel your love for me everyday.

I love that you are so actively involved in my life and in the life of my girls. Reagan adores you and I know that Gracen will too.

I love that you are growing in Christ, that every time I am at your house, your Bible and devotional guide are open on the kitchen table, that you are actively involved in your church, that you serve in ministry there, that you pray on a regular basis for many things including me and my family. I see the growth in you. Your life is bearing fruit. You are modeling Christ to me and my girls.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Contentment

I have decided that I am a pretty fickle kind of girl. I go back and forth between being totally content with everything in my life to being totally dissatisfied. Let me give you an example. I was in one environment at the beginning of last week that made me so thankful for my home. I walked inside and thought, "Ya know, I am really blessed to have a home like I have." Every room brought me a sense of thankfulness and I was able to look past all the things that "need" updating. Fast forward to the end of the week. I went into a beautiful house, the kind that looks like every room was decorated by an interior designer. Flat screen televisions in every room, stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, beautiful light fixtures, etc. I came home after that experience and was disgusted by everything I saw. Every single room "needed" something done to it to make it even close to acceptable. Can anyone relate to what I am talking about?

With my girls, one week I think they have everything they need. Then I hang out with a group of moms and listen to them discuss recent purchases and immediately start to think, "Well, Reagan needs that too!" It can be clothing, devotion material, a DVD, a craft activity, ....anything.

Why am I like this? I know that God desires contentment and thankfulness. I want to be content and thankful. I want to enjoy where I am today and all the blessings that God has placed in my life. The "American Way" is to buy, buy, buy. We aren't content. We aren't thankful. Once we have made that purchase, that item that we just had to have, we focus our attention on the next must have item.

I already see this behavior in Reagan. She loves to go to Target and Wal-Mart because she wants to get something. It can be anything! She just wants to get something. When she is at home she will see something advertised on TV and ask me for it for weeks. I will finally get it for her and she will play with it for a day or two and then throw it to the side. As a parent, I want her to be thankful. I want her to realize the blessings that she has and all the good things in her life, and how differently things could be. I guess this is too much to ask of a 3 year old. But it isn't too much to ask of an adult believer. God desires the same thing of me. He desires that I live in a state of thankfulness.....thankful for everything.... my family, my home, my clothes, my material possessions, my health, my salvation,.......

My parents model contentment for me. In prosperous times and in lean times they love each other, they love their lives, they love their children and grandchildren, they love their home, they love their church, etc. When it comes time to buy them a birthday gift or a gift for Mother's Day or Father's Day, they always say they don't need anything. They cannot think of one thing they want. I, on the other hand, always have a list of things I want. It is September and I am ready for Christmas....ya know what I mean? How did they get to such a place of contentment and thankfulness?

Maybe I'll arrive one day. Until then I will continue to pray about my desires and ask God to give me an appreciation for all the things that I have.

"Busy-ness"

Well Little Miss Gracen had her 4 month well visit today. She is actually 4 months and 3 weeks old, but the doctor's vacation got me all off track. I tried to tell him that this was going to make my baby book and Gracen's first year calendar entries all off as well, but he still chose to take a vacation. I guess 10 years from now it won't matter that my dates are 3 week off. Anyway, she is doing great, measuring 25 inches in length and weighing 14 pounds. Dr. Simon said her neck is looking a lot better with great range of movement, so all the exercises we have been doing have paid off. She is the happiest baby. After 2 shots she whined a minute and then smiled at the nurse who gave her the shots. I ran some errands with her after our appointment, and I don't think she made a sound in the car.....even after all those shots. As I shopped, she laid in her stroller and cooed and smiled. Now, that's what I am talking about. We had a "fussy" baby the first go around, so this is a nice change of pace.

As I read through the Facebook entries today, everyone is saying that they are ready for the weekend, but I got to be honest. Our weekends are pretty busy. I prefer the week days myself.
I don't know how our weekends keep getting so busy, but September and October are jammed packed. Tomorrow (Friday) I have to go to the grocery store in the morning to buy stuff for a hospital snack basket and food our college fellowship, after lunch I have to drop my kids off at my Mom's house and then go to visit a friend in the hospital, then return to pick up the kids, get back home, get some food ready, and the college girls will be arriving around 7:30. Saturday morning I have to get up and cook some quiches for a shower, go to Riley Anne's baby shower from 10:00 to 12:00 (which I am helping with), come home for lunch, and then take Reagan to a birthday party from 3:00 to 5:00. On Sunday, we are at church from 9:00 to 12:00, come home for lunch and nap, and then head back from 4:30 to 8:00. Yeah, the weekend is busy.

The next 2 weekends are exactly like this. It makes me tired just thinking about everything we have to do. I guess each thing in and of itself is not bad, but when I am working around 2 children, nap times, and nursing sessions, things get a little bit tricky. It was so much easier to work everything in with one child. Reagan was at that age where she was easy. She went wherever I did and her nap time wasn't a huge factor. But having an infant again....let's just say that I am still getting used to it. Of course, I wouldn't trade Gracen for anything. Thankfully, as I said above, she has an easy disposition, and she really does roll with the punches.

It was hot and muggy today. I am so ready for fall and the cool weather. It is my favorite time of year. I can hardly wait to post some pictures of the girls at the Pumpkin Patch and get them all dressed for our Fall Festival on Halloween weekend. Great times ahead.

I'll try to blog tomorrow but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen. I will be leaving the house at 8:00am and won't return home until late afternoon.....with people coming over a few hours later. Like I said, "I'm ready for the work week to return."

Waiting on God- 4

Well, last night's sleep was somewhat better. I shortened Reagan's nap time by over an hour, which killed me yesterday. I had to wake her up pretty quick after I finally got Gracen to sleep and that hurt. When you have little ones, any free time you can find is precious. Anyway, she seemed tired by 8:00 last night, but still talked and sang songs in her bed until after 9:00. This was better than 10:00 or 10:30 like the nights before.

If you know Reagan, you know she loves to talk. I mean LOVES to talk. If I ever tell her to be quiet because I am trying to think or work on a church lesson, she'll tell me she is going in her room to talk and she will. She'll talk to her dolls, talk through books like she is reading them, and talk to herself. I am not sure she really knows how to be quiet. A lady at church on Sunday said to me, "You know, Reagan's personality is adorable and her conversational ability is quite interesting, but I bet that gets pretty tough to take 24-7 at home." Yes....Yes it does. Thank you for feeling my pain.

On top of Reagan's incessant talking, her Gran bought her a microphone that you hook into the radio. The radio acts just like a speaker and now her voice is amplified all over the house. Yeah! That was a really neat gift for about 10 minutes. This is a gift that we need to share with Gran. I'll be sending it to her house when Reagan goes for her next visit.


Waiting on God....continued
I wanted to share a little story from the book Just Give Me Jesus that reminds us that there is a purpose for our suffering/waiting.

"There once was a little boy who was confused by something his pastor said one Sunday morning. When he saw the pastor in the parking lot, he ran up to him, tugged at his sleeve, and inquired respectfully, "Sir, can I ask you a question about your sermon?" The pastor graciously halted on his way to the car and gave the young boy his full attention. "Sure, son, what is it?"
The boy explained, "You said I could ask Jesus to come into my heart."
"That's right," the pastor responded.
"But Jesus is a Man in a man's body," the little boy replied.
"That's right," the pastor patiently answered.
As a frown creased his brows, the youngster persisted, "But I'm just a little boy."
The pastor gravely nodded, "That's right."
The puzzled look on the young boy's face betrayed his total ignorance of the truth he was about to utter. "But if I'm just a little boy and Jesus is a Man, if He comes into me, He'll be sticking out all over."
"That's right," the pastor agreed with a knowing smile."

"Suffering is not only the platform for our witness, but it also often seems to be the pressure that pushes the character of Christ to the forefront of our lives so that others see Jesus "sticking out all over.
Has God increased the pressure in your life? Then praise Him, not for the pressure, but for His transforming power at work that will use it to produce His character in you until others can see Him. Paul described it this way..."We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us . We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body." (2 Corinthians 4: 7-11)
Our ultimate aim in life is not be be healthy, wealthy, prosperous, or problem free. Our ultimate aim in life is to bring glory to God. So would you start praising God for your "thorns" and limitations and handicaps and suffering and heat, asking Him to open your eyes to the opportunity He has given you to display His glory and character in your life? So that even your spouse, your child, your parent, your roommate, your friend, your coworker, your pastor, can see Jesus sticking out all over you."

Waiting on God- 3

Well, you will remember yesterday's post and our issues with Reagan's sleep. The phase has not passed yet. Last night, I heard her talking and singing until well after 11:00pm and she woke me up at 4:00am. I did get her to eventually go back to sleep, but I have been unable to go back to sleep myself. Got to love it! I am so ready for the day when I can go to sleep when I want to and get up when I want to. I realize this will be years from now..... it's depressing to think about. Anyway, I was starving when I got up at 4:00, so I ate breakfast. It is 7:00 now and I am eating again and I'll be ready for my mid-morning snack by 10:00 or so. All that can't be good for the waistline. Breastfeeding really makes me hungry though.

Speaking of breastfeeding, I have some major pain on one side. From what I have read, I have a blocked milk duct. I am going to have to get on the phone this morning and figure out what to do for this. I am literally throbbing as I sit here......NOT looking forward to Gracen latching on this morning. Anyway, I hope this issue isn't the beginning of problems. Nursing has so been sweet and such a bonding time with Gracen. I love to watch her wrap her little legs around my arm or grab my hand and hold on while she eats. She is starting to grasp my chin or rub my cheek as she's eating, too. So sweet! I hate to be forced to stop before I am ready. In some ways, I am ready to stop, in other ways, I am not. I do want it to be my choice though, not caused by some infection.

Recently I have posted a few entries about waiting on God. When we are suffering, from whatever the cause, waiting on God's answer is difficult. I have been reading Anne Graham Lotz's book called Just Give Me Jesus and she has several interesting chapters on suffering. I thought I would share some of her thoughts today.

John 9: 1-41 The story of the blind beggar....blind since birth

Highlights:

"After considering whether your suffering is your fault, or your parent's fault, or someone else's fault, realize it may be that your suffering in no one's fault. The disciples, who were so sure the poor man's handicap was someone's fault, were admonished by Jesus, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned...but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." John 9:3

"The apostle Paul was in some way handicapped himself. He referred to it as a "thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan" that tormented him. He pleaded with the Lord to take it away but He responded in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

"Suffering gives God opportunities to work for His glory. That is why Peter, who himself had been beaten, imprisoned, and persecuted, encouraged other believers while awaiting his own execution, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6-7

"What kind of trials have caused you to suffer grief? Could it be that God has given you a platform of suffering from which you can be a witness of His power and grace to those who are watching? Because if we always feel good and look good and lead a good life; if our kids always behave and our boss is always pleased and our home is always orderly and our friends are always available and our bank account is always sufficient and our car always starts and our bodies always feel good and we are patient and kind and thoughtful and happy and loving.....others shrug because they're capable of being that way too. On the other hand, if we have a splitting headache, the kids are screaming, the phone is ringing, the boss is yelling, the supper is burning, etc., and yet we are still patient, kind, thoughtful, happy, and loving, the world sits up and takes notice. The world knows that kind of behavior is not natural. It's supernatural. And others see Jesus revealed in us. Suffering is a gleaming showcase for the display of the precious gems of His character that are reflected in you."

I don't know about you but her insights on suffering have given me a lot to think about....and I'll share a few more in the days to come. When I read on suffering I am always reminded of my infertility and all the feelings associated with that time. I still think God will use it in some way. I pretty much have a Bible study laid out and ready to go on enduring infertility and the lessons I learned....but haven't had the platform to teach it yet. I am also drawn to GracePlace Pregnancy Center. I would love to get involved there and maybe be a volunteer counselor. I thought I would do that when Reagan entered school, but now Gracen is here. So that will have to wait for a little longer too.

God prepare my heart for the platform you will give me!

What have you been through? What platform has God given you? Maybe you have endured infertility, disease, death of a child or loved one, financial loss, natural disaster, divorce, abuse....Be reminded and encouraged that God uses everything for His glory.

Sleep

It's 2:24 pm as I sit down to start this blog. Yes, it has been one of those days. I didn't blog over the weekend and for anyone who is following this, I am not going to even try to blog on Saturday or Sunday. We are just too busy and with Gene at home, it throws me all off kilter...in a good way.

Monday is my grocery day, so we leave here at 8:00 and take Reagan to preschool. Gracen and I head to the grocery store and any other store I need to go to while I am out and about. I try to make it home by 10:30 to unload the car, and then Gracen is ready to nurse at 11:00. Nursing STILL takes 40-45 minutes, and I have to get back in the car to pick Reagan up by 12:00. She has Flip Factory on Mondays, so I do not have to pick her up until 12:20, instead of the usual 11:30. As soon as we get back home, Gracen is ready for a nap, and Reagan and I are ready for lunch. After we eat, Reagan is ready for a nap and Gracen is about ready to get up. Anyway, you get the idea. I do not think I'll ever blog on Monday before about 1:00, and it could be later than that, like today. I will try to do better the rest of the week.

I am a creature of habit. I guess we all are to some extent. With children, being a creature of habit is difficult because they are constantly changing. We have all used the expression, "It's just a phase," or "This too shall pass," when referring to our kiddos. Well, Reagan has entered the "I DO NOT NEED ANY SLEEP" phase and I hope this one passes quickly. She really doesn't want to take a nap during the day, but she really needs one. She is a bear by 6:00pm if she doesn't rest at some point. I would just put her down for the night at 6:00, but I am really afraid at what time in the early morning she would wake up....totally refreshed and ready for the day. When she does take a nap, which she needs, she is not tired at bedtime. Her normal bedtime is 8:30 and we put her in her bed, whether she is sleepy or not. But, she will literally talk and sing for 2 or 3 hours. It's ridiculous. Her voice rings out all over the house. I guess Gracen is used to this "noise" because she sleeps right through it. We have even tried spanking her....to no avail. It does not make that child stop talking. She does hit the pause button to cry, which Gracen also sleeps through, and then goes back to talking and singing when she is finished crying. God Bless Her she loves to talk. Anyway, I have checked on her at 10:00 and then 10:30 for the last couple of nights and she is still wide awake. I really hate to go to sleep knowing she is awake, but I just don't have the stamina to stay up with her. This morning I woke up around 4:30am....I know, also ridiculous....but I couldn't sleep. I immediately went to her room to check on her and her lights were on and there were toys scattered everywhere. She was asleep, but I can't help but wonder what time she finally went out. I wish I had a video camera in there so I could see how she entertains herself all night. I would probably be horrified. Despite how late she goes to bed, her body clock goes off about 6:45am every morning. And then the cycle repeats itself....no nap....bad attitude....talking to all hours....up at 6:45. I just keep telling myself that this is just a phase and this too shall pass.

I started thinking about sleep this morning and the passage in Ecclesiastes 3 came to my mind. Ya know, the time for everything passage....."A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance...." I thought surely "a time to sleep" would be listed and I could use it in our family devotion time tonight. Do you know that it is not listed? Are you kidding me Solomon? Sleep is a pretty important aspect of our lives. There were some other phrases that I could use with her though, like maybe "a time to be silent" in vs. 7, which she really needs to practice...."a time to die" in vs. 2, which is what may happen to her if she doesn't start sleeping more.
If you come across any good verses on sleep, let me know. We will definately use them in our devotion time and we just might memorize them as a family.