There was couple who liked shopping in England for antiques and pottery, especially teacups. This was their 25th wedding anniversary. One day in an English shop, they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "We've never seen a teacup quite so beautiful. May we take a look at it?"

As the lady handed 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 and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "let me alone," but 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, and I began to cool. "There, that's better", I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Stop it, stop it! I cried. He only nodded, "NOT YET".

Then suddenly he put me back in 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".

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed on the shelf.

One 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". "I want you to remember then", he said, "I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to be spun around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and 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. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you".

"…We are the clay and You our potter; And we all are the work of Your hand."
Isaiah 64:8

Take My Life