Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. – Isaiah 64:7-9
My daughter, Maggie, and sister-in-law Pam both enjoy building and molding clay into bowls, cups, plates and other vessels. Using a potter’s wheel they place their hands in the clay and work it until a piece emerges. Eventually, they coat the shaped clay with glaze then the piece endures fire that reveals beautiful colors and designs on the pottery. Many of their pots and cups adorn my home. I enjoy the beauty and usefulness of each piece.
In Bible times, people used pottery every day to store water, food, even documents. If the pottery broke, the pieces (called potsherds) were used to carry water, hot coals, and sometimes as a surface for written letters. As I go through the fires of life and find myself broken, God’s potter hands remain on me, his clay. Even broken, I am still his child valued and restored by him.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Home
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. John 14:2
My granddaughter, Dylan, often calls me and invites me to her home. It goes something like this, “Hi Baabaw, can you come to my house today?” Sometimes I answer yes, but many times I have to say no because of others things I am doing. When I do stop by to see her, she throws open her arms and runs to me smiling and saying, “Baabaw, you are here!” She wraps her arms around me and I receive a big hug and kiss. I love that she is so excited to see me.
God has built a home for us in heaven and he wants each of us to meet him there. I can just imagine that his eyes are dancing with delight each time a son or daughter comes home and that he flings open his arms ready to wrap them in a hug. God loves us and wants us in his home where he has prepared rooms for all his children.
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. John 14:2
My granddaughter, Dylan, often calls me and invites me to her home. It goes something like this, “Hi Baabaw, can you come to my house today?” Sometimes I answer yes, but many times I have to say no because of others things I am doing. When I do stop by to see her, she throws open her arms and runs to me smiling and saying, “Baabaw, you are here!” She wraps her arms around me and I receive a big hug and kiss. I love that she is so excited to see me.
God has built a home for us in heaven and he wants each of us to meet him there. I can just imagine that his eyes are dancing with delight each time a son or daughter comes home and that he flings open his arms ready to wrap them in a hug. God loves us and wants us in his home where he has prepared rooms for all his children.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Encouragment for the Heart
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts … -2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
As a kid, I loved Valentine’s Day, not so much because of the lovey-dovey stuff or the silly cards we shared. But, because I got to make an awesome Valentine card box every year and decorate it any way I wanted. Those frilly, lace, paper hearts always found their way onto my creation (I think mom snuck them in) and my fingers matched the red and pink crepe paper that I glued all over the box with Elmer’s.
In sixth grade our teacher held a contest for the most creative Valentine box. With some help, I crafted a covered wagon to cart my cards around. Two of the boys in the class built a very cool robot box. Along with the other top winners, I ate lunch with the teacher and went to a movie. Mrs. Campbell allowed us to use our talents and imagination, and she rewarded us for our efforts. I have never forgotten her encouragement.
God encourages me each day. Through his word, the Holy Spirit and other people, God shows me hope and joy. I love that he knows me inside and out and sees my potential, as I strive to serve him with a grateful heart.
As a kid, I loved Valentine’s Day, not so much because of the lovey-dovey stuff or the silly cards we shared. But, because I got to make an awesome Valentine card box every year and decorate it any way I wanted. Those frilly, lace, paper hearts always found their way onto my creation (I think mom snuck them in) and my fingers matched the red and pink crepe paper that I glued all over the box with Elmer’s.
In sixth grade our teacher held a contest for the most creative Valentine box. With some help, I crafted a covered wagon to cart my cards around. Two of the boys in the class built a very cool robot box. Along with the other top winners, I ate lunch with the teacher and went to a movie. Mrs. Campbell allowed us to use our talents and imagination, and she rewarded us for our efforts. I have never forgotten her encouragement.
God encourages me each day. Through his word, the Holy Spirit and other people, God shows me hope and joy. I love that he knows me inside and out and sees my potential, as I strive to serve him with a grateful heart.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Left Behind
Luke 8:5-8
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."
When I arrived home Thursday evening after work, I found a curling iron hanging on the knob of the outside door. I was pretty sure that my daughter, Hannah, left it behind. Puzzled by this, I called her and sure enough it had been sticking out of her backpack and caught the door handle; doomed to spend the rest of the day hanging in the cold. Hannah did not realize she left it behind.
This reminds me of the breadcrumbs that Hansel and Gretel left behind to help them find their way home. Then I started wondering, what do I leave behind every day? What remnant of my life drops behind me as I walk away? Do I leave a path of crumbs just to feed the birds or do I leave the seeds of God that grow a pathway to Christ? I pray that I am yielding a road paved with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (The Fruit of the Spirit, Gal.5:21-23).
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."
When I arrived home Thursday evening after work, I found a curling iron hanging on the knob of the outside door. I was pretty sure that my daughter, Hannah, left it behind. Puzzled by this, I called her and sure enough it had been sticking out of her backpack and caught the door handle; doomed to spend the rest of the day hanging in the cold. Hannah did not realize she left it behind.
This reminds me of the breadcrumbs that Hansel and Gretel left behind to help them find their way home. Then I started wondering, what do I leave behind every day? What remnant of my life drops behind me as I walk away? Do I leave a path of crumbs just to feed the birds or do I leave the seeds of God that grow a pathway to Christ? I pray that I am yielding a road paved with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (The Fruit of the Spirit, Gal.5:21-23).
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