Trunk Miracle

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.

The class is led by my dear friend Junior Polo, who I might add is an artist.

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.

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.

How we decorate ourselves or what we put into our creation is up to us but our original design is perfect! The problem is we don't see our own beauty.

 Who are we to diss God's work 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!

 As I mentioned my creation leaked so I could be a dry flower vase or just leave it empty because I think it is beautiful! 

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

to help you mold them into a healthier you but remember the original design is still the work of God's hand.