Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

It's time to start the tomato seeds here in the Upstate of SC. I've gathered my heirloom seeds, my organic mix, a mini-greenhouse, and little pots. Now for those of you new to beginning tomatoes, I place the pots in the mini-greenhouse, add soil, sufficiently water the soil, place a couple of seeds in each pot and cover with soil to the top spraying again with water. 

Now the most important part.

Self Doubt and Questions

 

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15

What if you only had a ninth-grade education?

What if you couldn't confidently write the word "the" without asking your child how to spell it? 

What if the only Bible translation you had to read was a King James Version? 

Could you read your Bible? Would you try?

Could you understand what you read? Could you explain it? Would you try?

Could you join in a discussion with college educated men? Men who were pastors. Would you try?

The man I just described was my dad. He loved reading Sports Afield Magazine. He kept up with the local and national news through the newspaper. He couldn't write legibly or spell correctly but he could do math in his head faster than a calculator.  He also loved reading and studying his Bible. 

My dad read scripture. He studied scripture but I don't remember ever seeing many notes, but ask him where something was, he knew. He didn't just read familiar books of the New Testament. He read Ezekiel, Zacheriah, and other Old Testament books matching prophecies together with other books including Revelation. He discussed what he read with other men in the church, including the pastors. He knew what he believed and why he believed it. He had the drive and ability to disciple his children and others. He became a deacon.

A piece of paper didn't make my dad an educated man. His own desire to know the truth for himself made him an educated man. 

 How hungry are we for the Truth? How dusty are our Bibles?  What are we doing to educate ourselves, our families, and others? 

Father, may your Holy Spirit guide us into all truth through your word. Amen. 

Blessings,

Gail

                                 

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. II Peter 3:18 KJV

There it was, the sky peeping blue through the pink of dawning clouds. The sky as old as creation, yet new every morning. A new day full of grace for my family and my community from my Savior. And what is grace? Grace is an undeserved gift. It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). God’s grace is the sacrifice of His only Son. His desire is that we grow in grace and in knowledge.

As a teacher, I learned about Bloom’s taxonomy. It is a hierarchy of learning. At the bottom is knowledge or remembering. You know, read, study, memorize, but it doesn’t have to be boring.

Restate knowledge as searching, discovering, remembering. It’s like a treasure map.

Once we are able to recall facts we can comprehend and gain understanding. We can ask questions.

• Why do we need a Savior?
• Why did God send His Son?
• Why are we so loved?

 When we understand, we can apply that knowledge.

• We apply understanding for our own salvation. 
• We can show love to those who may seem unlovable. 
• Grace toward others is the application of the knowledge of God’s love.

 Creating, at the top of the hierarchy, is what God does when he makes us into a new creature. 

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17

Father, help me to:

• gain knowledge of You through Your word
• hide it in my heart, that I might recall it
• give Your grace to those around me.

Lord, those seem like big words. Please, just let me be the hands and feet of Jesus today. Amen

Love from our Savior, Jesus Christ,

Gail

Clay 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. Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)

Do you have a piece of pottery in your home? I don't mean a dollar store coffee cup. I'm talking about a piece of pottery that is handmade by someone. I have a little bowl my oldest son made when he was in elementary school. I can see the size of his little fingers where he squished the bowl into shape. His initials are scratched on the bottom.  He brought it home as a gift probably for Mother's Day. It may not be much to look at but it holds my paperclips on my desk. It does its job and to me it's priceless. 

When he went off to college, he met a girl majoring in something far different than art but she took a pottery class as an elective. She is now a professional potter. Her work is amazing, very unlike the child-made bowl on my desk. Her work is unique. I can see the ridges her fingers made as she turned the pieces on her wheel. I asked her about the process of bringing her pottery to the finished product. 

She explained clay doesn't need to cure, just dry, which could be between two days and two weeks before it is fired in the kiln. In the first firing called the bisque, the pottery is heated to 1800 degrees. After the pottery is glazed it goes through another firing at 2000 degrees. This firing takes between eight and nine hours. The pots shrink 10% in the firing. She sometimes fires a third time if something needs to be fixed. I'm thinking she means fixed as in the glaze. 

She often names her pieces according to the way she glazed them. The mug shown here is a mountain view. It was a gift because she knew how much I love the mountains. The saucer under the mug is my favorite muffin plate. It was one of her first works. It's nothing like the saucers she makes now but I love it. 

Have you ever turned a piece of pottery over and noticed it's not glazed on the bottom? There's a secret about the unglazed area. Regardless of the use of the pottery, the bottom can be used to sharpen knives. Just a little kitchen magic for you there. 

Isaiah compares God to a potter. God fashions each of us with a unique job. We are all different in our appearance. Even identical twins have different fingerprints.  Some of us may feel a little misshapen by the world's standards but like my son's little bowl, we are priceless in God's eyes. The Lord knows each of us by name and we are created with a special purpose. 

The Lord's fashioning of our lives is not a hands-off process. He shapes us and molds us and often times puts us through the fire, maybe more than once. No one is too young or too old, too sinful or too messed up for God to make them into what He has planned them to be. 

Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God. When we put on the armor the head and front are covered but the back is still open. Of course, God's got our back but I'm wondering if like the glazed pottery if our most vulnerable side is another part God will use. 

A potter creates beautiful, useful works of art. How is God molding you into what he wants you to be?

Being molded in His image,

Gail