Where it all began...

I suppose that I have always been a "Victorian" kinda girl. I've always loved the big hooped dresses and large white columned homes.  However, my fascination with teacups did not happen until the summer of 1999. 

I was going through a tough personal season of my life and received a phone call from someone that caused a turning point in my life.  She called to share a devotion that she had read that morning and had no idea how profoundly it would affect me.

The following is the story that she read:

THE TEACUP AND THE POTTER


A grandfather and a grandmother were in a tiny gift shop looking for just the right thing to give to their granddaughter for her 16th birthday. Suddenly, the grandmother spots a beautiful teacup nestled on a mirrored shelf. "Look at this lovely teacup!" she says to the grandfather. He picks it up and says, "You're right! I don't know much about teacups, but I believe that this is one of the loveliest teacups I've ever seen."

At that point something remarkable happens: In a voice as beautiful as the spray of flowers on her side, The teacup began to speak to the grandparents, "Thank you for the compliment; but you know, I wasn't always this beautiful."

Instead of being surprised that the teacup can talk, the grandmother and the grandfather simply asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," says the teacup, "once I was just an ugly, soggy lump of clay; but one day, a man with dirty wet hands picked me up, rolled me around in his hands and examined me. I felt uncomfortable as he was staring at me. You see, I knew that I wasn't pretty to look at and I had so many imperfections. I had no idea what was about to happen. He took me to a table and started to poke me and stretch me until I hurt all over. 'Stop! Stop! What is happening? Please stop' I cried, but in a voice as gentle as an ocean's breeze, he whispered, 'Not yet!' "

"Then he placed me on a round table and began to spin me faster and faster. With his big hands, he began to put pressure on me and move me into a different shape than I had ever known. The pressure of his hands on me was uncomfortable and the spinning made me feel as if my world was out of control. I was loosing my focus and didn’t know which way was up and which way was down. Then came the worst part. He took a sharp object and began to cut away the parts of me that did not fit what he had planned for me to become. It hurt so bad that I began to plead, 'Stop, this doesn't feel good. I’m hurting. I don't like this. My life is spinning out of control. I can’t stand this.' But in that same gentle voice he simply said, 'Not yet!' "

"Finally, he stopped; but, just when I thought that it was over, H e did something even worse. He put me into a dark, hot, furnace."

"I got hotter and hotter until I couldn't stand it.It was so dark that I couldn't see how to get out. I lost all sense of direction." 'Stop! Stop! I can’t stand this place. I’ve been through too much. I can’t take anymore. Pleeeease Stop!' I cried, but from within the furnace I heard that gentle voice, 'Not yet!' "

"Finally, when I thought I was going to burn up and could take it no more, the man opened the door and took me out of the furnace."

"It was brighter outside than I had remembered. I could see again! Then, He set me on a table and I realized that I actually liked how I felt. I suddenly had shape and parts of me were more firm than they had been before. Being firm and in my new shape made me feel more stable. 'Finally!' I thought I am complete. I have come so far."

"Then some lady with a colorful apron came over and picked me up. She began to daub me with horrible sticky paint. The fumes from the paint got so bad it made me sick to my stomach. 'Stop! Stop' I don't need this, I'm just fine the way that I am. Can’t you see how much I’ve changed? ' I was getting angry now. The lady with the sweet smile simply kept lovingly brushing and daubing me with paint. She never said a word in her defense.

"When her job was complete, she gave me to the man again, and he put me back into that awful furnace. This time it seemed hotter and darker than before. Knowing what was coming was almost more painful than not knowing had been before. 'Stop! Stop!' I cried, I can't take any more of this. Why am I going through this again? I'm so sorry for whatever it was that I did. I won’t do it again. Please let me out of this place. Why Am I HERE?' He didn't give me an answer, but smiled a knowing smile. 'Not yet!' said the man in a gentle and forgiving voice. I love you and I will not leave you alone."

At this point I was broken. My will was completely surrendered. I couldn’t fight anymore. I couldn’t pretend. I couldn’t resist. I could only surrender.

"And finally, he took me out of the furnace and let me cool. When I was completely cool, he packed me in a box, covered me with a protective wrapping, and closed the lid. I was bounced and jolted inside of that box, but at that point, I didn't care. I just didn't have the strength to fight. My will was completely surrendered to his.

A little while later, a pretty lady took me from the box and put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed. I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer ugly, soggy, and dirty. I was beautiful, firm, and clean. 'Look at all of the pretty colors.' I cried for joy. I couldn’t believe that I actually liked who I'd become! I would have never dreamed that I could become what I was seeing reflected in that mirror.”

"It was then that I realized, that all of the pain was worth it. Without it, I would still be ugly, soggy, and dirty. That man with the gentle voice and the knowing smile, the man who never left me but always answered gently, "Not yet", had done what was best for me. He really DID have good plans for my life. I could see it now. He knew that I couldn't have been used like I was, but look at me now! I began to look back at each step in the process. It was then that all that pain took on meaning for me. The things that I had endured had not been in vain. They were never meant to destroy me, but to deliver me from my old ways of thinking and being. He was not punishing me for what I was, but preparing me for what I would someday become. The process had a purpose. You see, It was that process that made me into the beautiful vessel that you see before you today!"