My sweet Jesus recently blessed me with a free
pottery class! After the initial excitement I was reluctant, I'm not very artistic
and couldn't imagine what I could possibly make. Being clueless is where I work best so I joined. It has been a great
experience sharing the class with my awesome friend Sonya.
As always I look for what the Holy Spirit might teach me in every experience. This
class brought me a visual teaching to the Bible verse regarding clay.
Isaiah
64:8
But
now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.
Not
gonna lie, the first day I was totally intimidated by the potential
artist that surrounded me. I had to remind myself of a story my friend
Betty, another artist, shared with me years ago. It's called the
magic of the trunk. We were painting cardboard bird houses and she
told me when I got home to put mine in my trunk and take it out in
the morning and it would be great.
The theory behind the madness is your eye will be less critical when you look at your work by itself instead of next to others. She was right.
The theory behind the madness is your eye will be less critical when you look at your work by itself instead of next to others. She was right.
Back
to class. Junior handed each of us a slab of clay and said we would be making a vase.
 |
| VASE? |
Ahh Junior your so cute, a vase, right.....
How is this slab of clay going to turn into a vase? With
a few tricks of the trade, which now that I'm a self proclaimed
artist I can share with you, it started to take shape. I got
excited about my project until I started looking around at other
peoples creations.
Especially Junior's!
Sonya
would be a good sport and tell me mine had potential. I would remind
myself not to look around and just enjoy the experience. I had a
vision of my creation in my mind the challenge was making it happen with my hands.
After
we finished molding our vase it was put in a kiln to bake and then we
would paint it. Unfortunately the only thing I would do
worse than molding clay was painting it.
Junior
showed me assorted brushes and colors to use for different effects .
I smiled and nodded my head as he spoke, you know the routine you've
done it, I stared at him like a deer in headlights. I had no idea what he was talking about.
I
just kept telling myself the Betty theory, when it's done it's going
right in my trunk.
Gems
we can't compare our work to those around us or we lose sight of the
potential within us. We are obviously not all artist but that doesn't
mean we can't try our hand at it. When we hold our work next to a
master of course it's not as good but if we hold it to our ability
it's not so bad. Miracle of the trunk :)
As
I looked around the class there were no two vases the same. Each one
was an expression of the one whose hands created it. It was no longer
a competition in my mind of whose was better,it was a celebration of
each persons uniqueness.
I
took my vase home and marveled at how great I thought it looked. I
proudly displayed it before my family and sent pictures to my friends
to share in my accomplishment. Not gonna lie Gems I was pretty
pleased with myself.
Does it have flaws? You bet. I put too much paint in some areas, I forgot
to paint the bottom, my boobs are lumpy and I'm not sure anyone's flesh is that color. There is a crack on the side and last but not least it
leaked when I put water in it! But in my eyes it was beautiful!!!
It
was then I started thinking about the verse from Isaiah.
God
is the potter and we are His clay and HE says we are the work of His
hands.
God,
the ultimate artist made us! Each of us an
original piece of art.
Isaiah 29:16
You
turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the
clay, That what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make
me"; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no
understanding"?
Perhaps we should all spend a night in a trunk and remind ourselves of who created us, GOD!
Why
do we question our uniqueness all the time? I include myself in this
question. I struggle at times with who I am. I question God as to why He created me the way I am.
Why doesn't my journey look like most of those
around me? Why have you asked me to be so different? Did you mean for
me to look like this? Do you like me? Am I normal to you? Do I have a
purpose? Am I living my purpose? Why do I sometimes feel like I
didn't stay in the trunk long enough? Am I a miracle?
Have you ever asked these questions? If so I'll tell you the answer He gave me and I'm 100% sure the answer is for you too.
Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.
The
problem isn't the answer God gives it's the lies I believe that cause
me to question in the first place.
Isaiah
45:9
"Woe
to the one who quarrels with his Maker-- An earthenware vessel among
the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you
doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?
If
my vase could speak and it told me it wasn't a vase I would be like
yes you are I'm the one who molded you out of a flat slab and made
you into one.
The "normal" purpose of a vase is to hold flowers
but just because I'm a vase doesn't mean I can only hold flowers. Maybe I'll hold pens or be part of a dress display.I could be a decoration on a shelf or hold lollipops!
Gems
your maker, GOD, thinks you are beautiful. He compares you to no
other creation He has made. You are a one of a kind, a unique
individual and you have your own purpose.
So I encourage you to celebrate your created self. I give you permission
to appreciate every crack and crevice of your design. If your life doesn't look like those around you throw a party and celebrate your unique design. If you have flaws you created get in your "trunk" and ask the Master Potter
