The Gift of Blue

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. II Timothy 3:15 KJV

It came wrapped in old newspapers, over-wrapped in white tissue. The bag was a simple brown gift bag, a Mother’s Day gift from my son and his wife. His wife had created this gift on her potter’s wheel, adding a perfectly curved handle. She glazed it with a sky blue, overlaid with a brown that gave the appearance of rain on a winter pasture. Around the rim the blue puddled and thinned into clouds. Inside, were the whirls of her hands on the wheel, glazed with tan and white of melted snow (or maybe it was a mocha with melting whipped cream). Either way this gift was more than a blue mug.

Someone long ago had shown the gift of turning to another, who in turn showed the gift to another, until my daughter-in-law was given the gift. Each in turn had used their gift to share their hearts in the pottery they created. An old gift made new in the sharing.

My granddaughter showed me her pinch pot, her first receiving of the old gift, so proud as she gently held it in her tiny hands, cupped like a nest to cradle a precious egg. Precious hands filled with the old gift that will once again become new with the life she will put into the pottery she turns, leaving her prints along the sides.

Christmas brought a brown gift bag with white tissue covering newspaper. As I gently held the gift unfurling each layer, little brown eyes glimmered with anticipation of the acceptance of the gift. An ornament, impressed with little fingers, fashioned from clay with a stocking shaped cookie-cutter, glazed red.

As a potter shapes the clay and leaves his/her imprint on the piece, so God instructs us to train our children, to mold them in the ways of God. Though they may not always follow, the imprints of the Truth upon their hearts cannot be erased.

Paul told Timothy that from a child he had known the holy scriptures that were able to make him wise unto salvation. Take it from Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Pass along the gift of the knowledge of scripture that leads to salvation.

 

Won't you join the conversation of how you and your family pass along the Gift of scriptures to your children?

 

Blessings,

Gail