Honestly, I never know what I am going to blog about until “it’s time” to blog. I may have an idea, but something will hit me all of a sudden and I just KNOW “this” is it (and, many times the topic is nothing related to what I was thinking!). Something happens, maybe a thought comes, or a conversation occurs and I will know, “this” is what I am to write about. “This” just happened a few moments ago.
We are trying to spruce the yard up from the effects of the winter. This usually takes us a good while because the sun, moon, and stars don’t always align. What I mean is, when Tim and I are home at the same time, we BOTH must be in the mood for yard work in order to accomplish all we hope to accomplish. We usually tackle the yard in spurts…a little here, a little there. Last weekend we power-washed and during the week Tim created his “top secret” soil cocktail (of who knows what?!?!) and planted a few flowers in some pots. It’s my job to strategically place them for the most aesthetically-appealing effect, basically, it’s my job to lay them out.
So, this morning, I’m in our little courtyard area placing the pots around. I pick up this clay pot with one hand to move it to its resting place for the spring and summer. Then, BAM! Right before I put it down, the pot broke and I am holding a piece of the pot and the rest is laid out on the ground! The pot is broken! I was in a rush this morning and did not take the time to fix a new one with the “Tim’s special soil concoction”, so I just propped it up by a post. “I’ll get to this another time.” Well, it hit me as I looked at the broken clay pot. This is it!
This reminded me I recently mentioned a very dear cracked clay pot in a previous blog about the gift of time that God gives us. The blog is entitled The Gift That Keeps on Giving and was posted on December 1, 2017, if you’re interested. The story of this little clay pot is worth telling and I knew I would get back to it sometime. Now’s the time!
On December 1st, I was “strategically placing” our Christmas decorations out when the topic for that blog came. Here’s what I said about the gift of the little Christmas cracked pot.
Please enjoy this picture of a gift Savannah gave to her teachers one year. I remember painting these clay pots with her that Christmas. No, they were not perfect, but they were painted by our hands. I am going to talk more about this clay pot at another time but I want to share this picture now. This pot was sent to me as a gift at a PERFECT TIME this July. I will cherish it forever.
So, here’s how this story goes. When Savannah was in the third grade, she and I painted these pots for Christmas to give to her teachers. It was, quite honestly, a mess. But, we did it and these pots were a true “labor of love”! I have one and think about that special time with her every time I put it out at Christmas. A gift of remembrance.
Anyway, I was not thinking about Christmas, clay pots, or anything remotely near there in late July of 2017. Isabella and I returned a day early from our beach vacation spent with friends because she was going to check into her dorm room early the following day, which would have been the day we would have come home. So, we drove the 4+ hours home and arrived at home around 11:00 pm. We immediately unloaded “vacation” from the car and loaded “dorm room” into the car. We hit the ground running the second we pulled into the driveway. While in the midst of all the activity, our precious neighbors brought us our mail which was placed on the island out of the way. We had received a package while we were gone and they graciously picked it up for us. Whew! We were finally done and I plopped down at the island and began going through the mail. I then got to the box. In the top was a letter and an envelope with a card. I read both first before ever unwrapping the contents of the box.
Now, I want to set the stage before I go on. Here I was coming off a beach trip with our dear friends on the one-year anniversary of our last family vacation as a family of four, taken the end of July 2016. We wanted to spend that “anniversary” with our friends who never left our side while Savannah was in the hospital in one of the places Savannah loved, the beach! It was tender and exactly what this mom needed. Anyway, Isabella and I were worn out from driving and packing and it was good for me to sit. However, I was about to embark on yet another milestone year. My baby was moving out! Going to college! This is somewhat traumatic for some mamas. It was particularly touching for me. My ONLY child left here on Earth was moving out! She was moving into the world that Savannah was in…college life! It was all hitting me, subconsciously, as I was pilfering through the mail.
Now, to the box. I read the letter and the card and am intrigued. The writer notes she does not know me personally, but we have mutual friends. Her daughter was Savannah’s middle school basketball coach. “Oh, I remember her!” A smile comes across my face. I am touched because she prayed diligently for Savannah – and us. She tells me about this cute little clay pot she found at a thrift store a number of years back. She shares how a couple of years ago, it got left out when the Christmas packing of the decorations occurred. It found its way to the dryer holding dryer sheets where it sustained a small crack. She shares that it was time to clean out and it was time for this cute little pot to go back to the thrift store. Something made her turn the pot over and to her surprise, she saw the name written clearly on the bottom. She knew, in that moment, that the cute little Christmas pot did not need to go back to the thrift store. No, it needed to go back the place it originally came from, my home.
Oh, what a gift! Here I was, a worn-out mom on the eve of moving her youngest, sweet baby into college after spending a tender week at the beach with friends who love us, but without our firstborn, and I receive a gift. A beautiful reminder of sacred times. The gifter reminded me of 2 Corinthians 4:7 that says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels to show this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” She noted that “God’s Word says that He wants to let His light shine through us. He delights in using broken, flawed and cracked pots so that He and He alone will receive all the glory.” She further explained that our lives we live are the empty clay pots and He desires to fill them with Jesus. Jesus Christ lives in us and His light is able to shine through the cracks we sustain.
Her words soothed me when she reminded me that God’s glory shone bright through Savannah’s life!
We are ALL fragile vessels waiting to be filled.
What does your vessel contain? Is it THE LIGHT?
I pray that we learn to love our cracks as God is glorified through Jesus’ light shining through. Savannah, yet again, got it right! Thank you, Jesus, for Savannah, my cracks, the teacher passing this “gift” along, and this precious woman’s gift of remembrance so perfectly timed!
Please read 2 Corinthians 4:6-12 in The Message (MSG) translation:
Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
Love your cracks and THRIVE!
Stephanie