|
|
|
|
|
|
There was a couple who liked to go to England and shop in beautiful stores for antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. On their 25th wedding anniversary, they went to England in search of a teacup. They visited several antique shops. At the last shop, they saw the most beautiful teacup ever. "May we see that?" they asked. "We've never seen one quite so lovely." As the lady was handing it to them, the teacup suddenly spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over. "Let me alone!" I yelled out. He only smiled. "Not yet." "Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, "Not yet." Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips, as he shook his head, "Not yet." Finally the door opened. He put me on the shelf. I began to cool. "That feels so much better." Then he began brushing paint all over me. The fumes were so horrible. I thought I would gag. "Stop it, stop it!" I cried. He only nodded, "Not yet." Suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, "Not yet." I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up just as the door opened. He took me out and placed me on the shelf. An hour later, he handed me a mirror. "Look at yourself." I did. "That's not me. It can't be. Why .... I'm beautiful!" "I know it hurt to be rolled and patted," He said softly. "But if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know you were dizzy spinning around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you'd have crumbled. I know you hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you'd have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed paint all over you, but if I hadn't, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you would not have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. But look at how beautiful the finished product is. You are now what I had in mind when I first laid eyes on you." The Moral? God
knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter and we are His
clay. He will mold us and make us so that we may be made into a flawless
piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect Author
Unknown~ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
