Thursday, November 4, 2010

In The Potter's Hands



But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Ephesians 64:8
I realize I have been scarce here the past several weeks. It seems things have been insanely busy and any spare time has been spent trying to keep up with the regular activities on top of the extra ones.

In all honesty, I've started this post probably
100a half dozen times, not knowing where I was going to go with it. I still don't know! So with my kitchen sink and counters piled high with dirty dishes waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher or hand washed, every other thing house-work-ish imaginable needing done, I'm sitting down and writing this post. I don't know where it's going to go, but I'm going to write and leave the words to God.

This fall I have been overwhelmed repeatedly at the amazing, incredible, GOD stuff that has come through my life. I was thinking last week how much I feel like a piece of clay that God - the Potter - is shaping. I don't know what the finished product will be. How many times He'll have to squish me back into a lump and start over. How many times I'll fall and crack. Or break and need glued back together. But He is shaping me. There's no other explanation for it.

I am in a ladies Bible Study at church where we're studying the life of David (a man after God's own heart - Acts 13:22) in the book , "Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed - A Study of David" by Priscilla Shirer, Kay Arthur and Beth Moore. A couple weeks ago was the Relevant Conference and I was able to hear a little bit of one of the sessions through a live broadcast... and have read some of the conference recaps by different bloggers. This morning Cindy Shufflebarger spoke to our MOPS group.

Each of these things continues to challenge me in one area specifically:

How am I living my life as a child of God?

No, I don't think it's a mere coincidence. That each of these things, all separate from each other, would speak to me in the same way. No, God is putting these events in my path so He can work in my heart through them.

The Bible study is teaching me: I am a child of God, anointed with the Holy Spirit to do His will. He is transforming me each day into His likeness - bringing me through the thick and thin, refining me to clean out all the dross so that I can be a clear reflection of Him (Job 23:10). And because of this, I can live a redeemed life for Him!

The Relevant Conference has left me asking myself: What do I (or does He) want my life to be? What should my BLOG be? Both should be glorifying Christ... reflecting Him to those that I come in contact with IRL or through my blog.

Cindy Shufflebarger spoke this morning about finding JOY in the midst of trials - big or small trials. Maybe just the little things that I allow myself to get ticked off at so easily. Or maybe the big things that really put a kink in my day - or week - or months. But I can choose joy instead of frustration. I can choose joy instead of moaning and groaning about my day not going the way I want it to. I can choose joy when God puts a big mountain in my path and I wonder "how in the world am I going to climb over this?"

All that said... I've been thinking a lot about who I am and who I want to be. I want to be like Christ... in my head. I need to get that into my heart a little better. I want my blog to reflect Christ. I want it to be an encouragement to all who stop by. I want to reflect Christ as I live my life as Daniel's wife. I want to reflect Christ as I mother Susannah. I want to make our home to be one that when people walk in our door they know God is here. I want to show His love to those around me.

I hope this has prompted you, too, to consider, how are you living your life? Are you a child of God? Then how are you living your life for Him? If you're not a child of God, I pray that this post will be a seed planted in your heart that might draw your eyes to the One who loves you so very, very much.

Being transformed,
~Miriam

11 comments:

Sally said... [Reply to comment]

You are blessed, and a blessing. I still don't know how you manage to consistently fruitfully attend Bible Studies, read books, and go to MOPS, etc. Today has just been a hamster wheel day for me, and I feel like I'm going to have a hamster wheel week if I don't exert some major energy and get a hold of a few things. Meeting basic needs can so easily take up all my time, and I'm always so tired. I just opt to stay home rather than join a MOPS group. I am really hoping to soon get going on a faithful exercise program, and hoping that will make me carve out a little time to read a book. I do my Bible reading while feeding Marie, but even that sometimes gets pushed, especially if none of her feedings are while the kids are sleeping. Oh well, this is just a rambling comment. I just put Marie to bed (I read this while I was feeding/burping her) and I need to get my turkey picked and in the fridge, my kitchen cleaned up and get to bed. I hope I am not as tired tomorrow. (And I hope Hannah doesn't get up for the day at 4:30 either.)

The bottom line is, I don't feel or see any spiritual growth in my life, and I keep searching for what do I need, what am I supposed to be doing differently, is something wrong, and what's going on here, etc. So keep posting and maybe I can learn some things!

Leighann said... [Reply to comment]

Love this post!

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Sally
Sally,
The thing that comes to me as I re-read your comment is a verse that Cindy Shuffleberger shared yesterday: Be STILL and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

I, too, could do housework/child-care 24 hours a day and never be cought up. I don't attend the Bible Study or MOPS group because I have the time to, but because I go anyway. Now if there REALLY is something that I need to stay home for, I do, but regardless of the messiness of the house, I still go. I still sit down in the midst of clutter and take 30 minutes or so and do my Bible Study homework every day if I don't forget.

MOPS is more of a "getaway/me-time" opportunity to connect with other moms while our kids are being cared for (MOPS provides child-care - as does the Bible Study group -, did you know?). Sometimes we do something fun, sometimes we have a speaker, but it's a great time to forget the dirty dishes, the toy-strewn floor, and the piles of laundry that aren't yet folded, and just BE.

I would encourage you to give yourself some time to regularly get away from the crowd - or daily grind - and go up into the mountain to be with the Father, so to speak.

Sally said... [Reply to comment]

Thanks, Miriam. I think I might just have to make some adjustments, and also maybe check out our local MOPS, at least on a trial basis. But do you know how hard it is for me to fit in? Sometimes (not infrequently) Christian moms just really treat me as an outsider. Anyway, fortunately there are those that knew me before I was a mom, and they are still my friends.

Rachel said... [Reply to comment]

You are not alone in the "fitting in" issue. As I approach the 5 year deadline of having kids, this is looking more and more discouraging. I have never fit in with other women, especially none my age. I was thinking about this just last night after small group, that when I have kids, I won't "fit in" with the other moms. Whether I work outside of home or not, I won't fit in either catagory of moms at our small group or church. What is wrong with me? I don't think I am stuck up or anything like that, I try really hard to be interested in what is important to others and not be narrow-minded and grossly opinionated, but I just don't feel welcome or included in groups. I think sometimes maybe it is because I don't think things are a big deal when others do. But I don't practice letting people know if I think they are making a mountain out of a molehill.

There are two ladies in our small group that I am getting to know and seem to fit in with fairly well, but they are both 10-15 years older than me and nearing the end of raising their kids.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

I also feel the pain of not fitting in. I have no kids and don't plan on having any, and tha really narrows down the groups that you fit in , because everyone our age has at least one or more kids. We only know one couple that are close to our age without kids. Almost all of my friends are either grandmothers or early 20's (except for Gloria - we are close in age).
At church we don't really fit in with the groups, we're to old and have been married to long to fit in the young marrieds group and not old enough and not married long enough to fit with the old people.
i don't know what to suggest but somehow it will all work out!!
Julia

Elizabeth said... [Reply to comment]

Miriam, you inspire so many feelings within my heart time and time again. I feel blessed to "know" you! I love this post.

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Wow, pretty nice article. How will I find your subscription?

Kate Stepman
bugdetectors

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Hi there,

I have a inquiry for the webmaster/admin here at www.mycountrycupboard.blogspot.com.

Can I use part of the information from your blog post right above if I give a link back to your site?

Thanks,
Harry

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Anonymous

Harry, I would need to know a little more about what you're interested in using and what for. Please use the Contact Me button if you would like to discuss this further.

Alicia said... [Reply to comment]

Miriam, you won the $15 Starbucks gift card on my blog! Did you get my email I sent (around a week ago?). Let me know...

Love, Alicia