I Guess You Could Say I'm a Potter

For years now I have wanted to learn how to use a potter's wheel. I have looked into classes, perused through catalogs, and even atempted a couple of phone calls but it wasn't until last night that I actually went to a class and threw a pot. This art form is no joke!

After class, I barely made it back to my apartment as my hands were so cramped up from "centering" the clay that to grip a doorknob became almost impossible. My back spasmed as I laid down to take a breather on the couch. My calf muscles were tight from all the slowing down of the wheel. But the best part is when my friend, Inge, pulled a stomach muscle trying to get her clay to actually stay on the wheel. Throwing pots is equivilent to a full body workout. In the end, there was not much to show for it except a lop-sided, thick-walled speciman that resembledsa cat bowl (I don't have any pets, by the way). But it was all worth it if for nothing else to understand God better as potter.

What a large amount of work God has to put in to mold me. I am sure I was one of those lumps of clay that started way off center. The amount of water, strength, and will God has had to put into my life in order to even beginning to work probably left him (or her) holding his lower back in agony before clicking on the news multiply times. And I wonder how many pots of my life have been made that just don't seem to work quite right. There is too much pressure on one side and out of nowhere the entire mound collapses or the bottom walls are too thin to support the thick top, heavy lip. Or the clay that I am, wanting to be a beautiful pitcher or a large serving plate, is stretched so far and thin that it misses what it actually is created to be which is a simple beggar's bowl. There is so much to consider about the live God is molding in each of us.

At some point, if I work hard enough, I feel confident that I will have mastery over the clay and not the other way around. At that point I expect to know the joy God must feel when we throw up our hands and surrender our lives to him. Finally! Now I can actually start working.