i know this was posted before, i thought it would be a good reminder for alot of people who are going through the heat and fire this week........
The Tea Cup
There was a couple who used to go England to shop in a beautiful
antique store. This trip was to celebrate their 25th wedding
anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially
tea-cups.
Spotting an exceptional cup,they asked "May we see that? We've
never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them suddenly the tea cup spoke "You
don't understand." It said, "I have not always been a teacup.
There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took
me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled
out, 'Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone', but he only
smiled, and gently said 'Not yet!!'
"Then. WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was
spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy!
I'm going to be sick!', I screamed. But the master only nodded and
said, quietly; 'Not yet' He spun me and poked and prodded and bent
me out of shape to suit himself and then......"Then he put me in the
oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at
the door. 'Help! Get me out of here! I could see him through the
opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to
side, 'Not yet'
"When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door
opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I
began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! 'Ah, this is much better,' I
thought.
"But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted
me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh,
please stop it, Stop it!!' I cried. He only shook his head and
said. 'Not yet!'.
"Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not
like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would
suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed I cried. I was convinced
I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door
opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I
cooled and waited-------and waited, wondering what's he going to do
to me next?
"An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.'
And I did. "I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's
beautiful. I'm beautiful!"' "Quietly he spoke: I want you to
remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded
and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I
know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had
stopped, you would have crumbled'.
'I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but
if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked.
'I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all
over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You
would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back
in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the
hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now
you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'
The moral of this story is this:
God knows what He's doing [for each of us]. He is the potter,
and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, and expose us to
just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made
into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and
perfect will.
So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and
pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning
out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of
trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.. Brew a cup of your
favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this
story and then,......
......have a little talk with the Potter.
Terri that was a beautiful story & I think I get the meaning behind it.Do you realize what a sweet beautiful soul you are & have.You make me so peaceful when we talk & I hope I can give you even 1/4 of the warmth & friendship you give me.I LUV YA BIG HEAD!!!!!!mj
awe thanks molly,
trust me you give back to me equall amounts of warmth and peace :) friendship works both ways : ) i'm proud to be yours
terrianne
trust me you give back to me equall amounts of warmth and peace :) friendship works both ways : ) i'm proud to be yours
terrianne
Terrianne very good, i get the jist. Tommo
