Being Quiet

I have been frustrated in my attempts to pray on my own lately. I would sit there and have to fight to come up with the words to pray - and then they would sound so juvenile instead of the "pretty" prayers I'm used to "coming up with". I recently started journalling my prayers, and thought it would make it easier, but if anything it's now worse. I have no words of my own. Instead, the only thing that comes to my mind is Scripture, whether it's in prayerful worship or in intercession. I was writing out my frustrations to God this morning, and He quickly showed me that I am in a season of "being made silent". (Not sure why I put that in quotation marks, it just felt like it should be in quotes.) I have grown self-sufficient in how I pray. He wants me to get back to praying only Spirit-led, Scripture-fed prayers. (I mean, Hello! That's what Pastors Harry and Kevin have been leading us in for well over a year at my church, Shades Mountain Independent!) And sometimes, He doesn't want me saying anything - just being still and trusting that His Sovereignty and grace are sufficient. He sees my heart and knows what's in it - the worship, the gratitude, the requests, the concerns, the desires, and yes, even the sins and weaknesses, the deceptions I've bought into. He knows it much better than I ever will. I don't have to say anything. Sometimes, I just need to be quiet and get out of the way so His Spirit can do His work in me and through me.

Hi! Remember Me?

Wow. It's been a while. I've missed this. So why haven't I been blogging? Hmmm, several reasons, I guess: I can usually only blog in the evenings, and am usually too tired to think, much less converse; Facebook was satisfying my need to put my thoughts out there to my cyber-friends; I kept thinking I needed to start off with some big, fantastic blog with lots of followers, and would get discouraged when I kept falling short.

A lot of that thinking has changed. I'll start with the last one first: this is MY blog, and it doesn't have to fill anyone else's shoes - just mine. No one's blog started off big and fantastic with lots of followers, and if I only ever have 6 followers, then that's enough for me. My main purpose for blogging is not to entertain the masses, but to share my thoughts with my friends - especially those thoughts that God has been teaching me.

That may be another reason why I haven't been blogging: not to sound too lofty, but maybe, just maybe, the enemy of my soul has been keeping me distracted. Just before I stopped blogging on a semi-regular basis, I had shared with a friend that I felt like God wanted me to use this blog to share the amazing things God is teaching me. I have a gift of prophecy, which means a gift for declaring truth. What better platform than this blog? The devil obviously doesn't want the truth to go out in any way. Well, I'm done cooperating with that plan.

And finally, the Facebook distraction. As of last week, I am no longer doing FB. I deactivated my account. I had been wrestling with that decision for a long time. It became too much of a time drain, and it was competing with my time that I should have been spending with God. Our pastor has been challenging us to give up things that distract us from hearing from God and seeking Him. I was choosing time on Facebook over time with God - in other words, it had become an idol for me. It was also compromising other priorities - like getting in bed on time, conversation with people in my house, and blogging.

I don't have anything against Facebook itself, or anyone who uses it. It's just for me, at this time at least, it's gotta go. I want my relationship with God to be my number one priority. I don't want anything else to get in the way of that. Seriously. When I do get rid of the distractions and spend that time with Him instead, I am always amazed at His amazing grace, and at the things He shows me. Do you know how much He desires our undivided attention? How delighted He is when we let Him show us some of the wonders He has for us? Someone recently showed me a picture. It depicted Christ sitting in a forest with a child in His lap, tucked up against Him under one arm, while He was holding a butterfly on the end of His finger on His other arm. The child was delighted with the butterfly, and Christ was delighted in the child's delight. That child is you and me - if you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior. He wants to pick us up and sit us on His lap, tuck us up under His arm, and then show us the wonders of His grace, mercy, love, and Creation itself. I have tried to hold one of my children before, but because they didn't want to put down their toys, I either couldn't pick them up at all, or had to hold them at arms length because the toys were in the way. I want to put down my toys so that He can pick me up and tuck me under His arm. I want to lay my head on His breast, and behold the wonders He has in store for me. And I want to share what He shows me with you.

Pottery Pictures and a Pottery Giveaway!!!

I just wanted to show you some of the things I've made in my pottery class so far. I am still LOVING this class! I've had 4 of 6 classes so far, and I am dreading the end of that 6th week. I will definitely go through clay withdrawals. Seriously. I am in love with the stuff! I love the way it feels on my hands. I love the way it changes shape on the wheel. I love the way it smells. Okay, stop looking at me like that (yes, I can see you). I know how weird that sounds, but I can't help it. I have been told by one of the instructors and others in the class with me that I seem to have a "knack" for wheel-throwing. If you have ever wanted to take pottery classes, I highly recommend going here and signing up for the next available classes!

Now, if you love hand-made pottery, but would rather just own it rather than make it, head over to Rachel's blog. She is having a giveaway for some gorgeous pottery, created by Tena Payne, who is teaching the class I'm taking. I've blogged about her before.

Now, without further ado, some of the pictures of my work. Remember I've only had 4 classes at this point, so be kind in your opinion. Honest, but kind.

This is the clay after being wedged, thrown, centered, and opened. See how wet it is?


These are my very first 2 pieces. I made the cup first, and then the bowl. To be honest, I had to chunk the first 3 attempts, but that's part of the learning process.


I made these my second week. The larger one is one of my favorite pieces so far. You'll notice the bottoms look rough. That's because they had not been trimmed yet.


This is my other favorite piece. It's supposed to eventually be a teapot, but I like it like this so much that I might just use it as a vase.


Another angle of my teapot/vase.


This past week we learned how to trim the pieces. I don't have those pictures ready yet, but I'll get them up soon. We will be glazing the pieces in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait! Don't forget to sign up for the pottery giveaway on Rachel's blog!

Collecting Buttons

I won - again! Actually, twice again! Rachel has a "Conquer the Caption" contest every Friday. I had the honor of winning the first one, and have won the last two weeks in a row as well. And no, I did not have any inside information or previous knowledge to give me an edge. I just have a quirky mind that thinks this way all the time, and Rachel has just so happened to stumble on a good outlet for it.

Thanks to Rachel and all her wonderful, generous giveaways, I can never again say I hardly ever win anything, even if it is just a virtual button.

And while I am on the subject of buttons, I'm going to start collecting them. You may have noticed my blog button on the sidebar. That was also created by Rachel - just to be nice. I didn't win that one. If you would like to display my button on your blog (if you use Blogger), all you have to do is to copy (ctrl-C) the code under my button, then go to layout --> Add Gadget --> HTML/Javascript --> Paste (ctrl-V) your code in. You will start seeing more of my friends' blog link buttons on my sidebar as well in the near future.

My First Pottery Class!

Today was my first pottery class! And. I. LOVED it!! As I have mentioned before, I have always wanted to try my hand at pottery since I first saw someone doing pottery at Tannehill State Park when I was a child, and I was not disappointed!

CahabaClayWorks offers several classes taught by several teachers, and I chose the Tuesday morning class because: 1) My husband is at home on Tuesdays to watch our kids and 2) Tena Payne, whose children I went to school with, was the teacher for this class. There were 3 of us for this first class today, which in my opinion was great because it allowed Tena to give us more one-on-one time. And at the beginning anyway, we really needed it!

Tena started the class by telling us about clay. It's straight from the earth. It is the end result of erosion and is found all over the world. It also comes in a variety of colors. You can make it into any shape you want and change it as much as you want, but once you fire it, it will last forever. That's how archeologists learn about ancient civilizations is primarily through the pottery they find because it is the most well-preserved.

Then she made some spiritual applications. (after asking permission to do so with the class). God calls Himself the Potter, and He calls us the clay. He comes and digs us out of the "earth", out of the filth of our sin. We are unable to come to Him first, just like the clay has no power on its own to come to the potter. God cleans all the dirt and impurites out of us to make us something that He can use. And then He molds us and shapes us. We cannot tell Him what we want to look like. It is completely up to the Potter. There are many different tools you can use when making pottery, some of them are "normal" tools (like a sponge), and some of them are quite strange (like a corn-cob-looking...thing). The spiritual application there is do not be surprised at the unlikely tools God uses in our lives to shape us into His vessel, and do not resist the process. Once a piece of clay is shaped and left to air dry, it will try to go back to it's original shape. How true of us as well. As Christians, we are so quick to fall back into the sins and habits that God just rescued us from, just like the Israelites who wanted to go back to Egypt. And then of course, there is the firing process. (which we didn't do today). It hardens the vessel into the shape the potter made, and it becomes a useful and beautiful object. The fiery trials in our lives God uses to transform us into a vessel pleasing and useful to Him and to those He brings into our lives. I LOVED it! I don't know why, but I had goose bumps as she shared all of this with us. Oh, and another thing, if during the process of making the piece of pottery, the clay goes awry, the potter doesn't throw it away, he/she reclaims it, and starts all over again. And God never gives up on us, but reclaims us and makes us into something new. Isn't that awesome?! I told Rachel that my only regret about this Tuesday class was missing Bible study, but God still gave me an awesome lesson about Himself through Tena and the clay. Praise God!

Tena demonstrated everything for us first, and made a beautiful bowl in no time. She made it look so easy. Then we got to do it ourselves. It wasn't that easy, but it was so much fun! Now, to be honest, I was afraid I would discover that I didn't enjoy getting the clay all over my hands, because as a child I hated getting dirty, but that was not the case. I loved the way it felt on my hands. By the end of the 6-week class, I bet the skin on my hands is going to look great!

If you watch a potter working on a wheel, they make it look like the clay just melts at the slightest touch of your hands, but you have to exert a lot of pressure on that clay. You don't just use your hands, but your whole body. I mean, I can feel it in my muscles still, maybe I should go take a Motrin... Now, I messed up right away, because I didn't throw my clay on the wheel firmly enough, so when I went to start centering it, it went flying off the wheel (don't worry, no teachers were harmed during the production of this vessel.) I ended up having to start over 3 times, but the fourth time was the charm, and I was amazed at the pretty bowl that turned out. (Tena says that for beginners', you don't decide what you're going to make ahead of time, you just take what the clay gives you.) I'm so sorry to not have a picture to show you, but I left my camera at home. I'll take pictures next week and show you. I then did a second piece all by myself! Well, under Tena's close supervision anyway. I was rather proud of my very first 2 pieces! My 2 classmates only made one piece, but they came together and were having fun chit-chatting while I was in the zone.

In the end, I had 2 lovely bowls of different shapes and sizes (I'm assuming we'll do the finishing work on them next week), my jeans and shirt covered in clay (they tell you to wear clothes you don't mind getting muddy), and a huge smile on my face. I loved having Tena as a teacher, and it was fun getting to know the 2 older ladies who were in the class with me. They were a hoot! I have always been told that I am creative and artistic, but I haven't found an outlet for that creativity that I have enjoyed as much as I enjoyed this today. Thank you, Rachel, for this wonderful prize. And thank you, Tena, for donating these classes to her giveaway.

A New Name

Rev. 2:17 - " 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' " (emphasis mine)

I once read somewhere that to know a person or a thing's name is to have some degree of authority over them. Think about it, if you are in a large crowd and hear someone shout, "Hey you", you will assume they're talking to someone else and keep walking. But if you hear someone shout your name, it will most likely make you stop and see who is calling for you. And the more specific they are with your name (I.e. - first and last), the more it will compel you to stop. Perhaps this is why parents are known for calling their child by their full name when that child is in trouble. The parent is letting the child know that the full weight of their parent's authority is about to come down on them.
Your name is also your identity. Before and during the Middle Ages, if I'm remembering my history correctly, a person was identified by what they did for a living or something they had accomplished. For good or for ill, that identity became their name that the person - and their descendents - were known by. To this day, some people strive to "make a name for themselves".
This verse tells us that Jesus has given us an identity. We are identified with Christ! That means we are identified as holy and blameless (Eph.1:4), a joint-heir (Rom. 8:17), being seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph.2:6), set apart (Col.2:11, 12), and made complete in Him in all the fullness of Deity (Col. 2:9, 10). What an encouraging, life-changing truth. No matter what the world tells us, no matter what our family history is, no matter what mistakes we've made, if we are born again, then we are identified with Christ - by Christ! And because Christ is the only one who knows this new name of ourse, He is the only one who has authority over us! We no longer have to listen to the lies of the enemy, to temptations, or to the voices of the world that try to distract us or taunt us because they don't know our name and therefore have no authority over us. Because Satan has no authority over us, he has no authority to put any guilt or condemnation on us. His threats and accusations are not valid. (Rom.8:1,2) We only have to listen to the voice of our Lord and Savior, and we answer only to Him! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!!!!

An Epiphany

I have been a Christian since I was 4 years old. I have grown up in the church and have enjoyed a close walk with God for most of my life. However, there is a fundamental truth to the Christian faith that I have always struggled with, and that is the issue of our sin being separated from us "as far as the east is from the west". I have been taught that at length all my life through various things, and I knew it in my head, but I didn't own it for myself. As a result, even though I knew my sins were forgiven, I have been living life weighed down with guilt and self-condemnation. I would read verses like Ephesians 1:3,4 - "Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him." (emphasis mine) and I would think, well that will be nice one day, but I am not holy or blameless right now. When I sinned, my head knew I was forgiven as soon as I confessed and repented, but I still felt like I had to work my way back into fellowship with God, that there was a series of hoops I had to jump through in order to "make it up" to God for screwing up. As a result, I was always angry with myself, and I could not fully grasp my identity as a child of God and what He has called me to do. I thought I was too messed up to by fully used of God.

However, tonight, at our Sunday night prayer time and Communion, God revealed the truth to me. I finally got it, that my sin was not just "washed away", but that the blood of Jesus Christ obliterated my sin. It does not exist anymore! The moment I confess my sin, Jesus is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".(I John 1:9) At that instant, I am holy and blameless before Him (Eph.1:4). That lie I told in 2nd grade - washed away; losing my temper with my kids this morning (yes, before church of course) - gone; getting impatient with the slow-poke on the road - doesn't exist anymore. Hallelujah!

That guilt was a lie of the enemy to hold me back from living a victorious Christian life, and to keep me from fully realizing the call God has on my life. I can now declare that "Therefore there is now (not "someday", not "maybe", but "now") NO condemation to those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom.8:1 - emphasis mine). It doesn't mean I will never sin again, it means I no longer have to bear the guilt or condemnation of that sin because Jesus Christ bore my sins on His body on the cross. He paid the penalty, and when He arose from the grave, He took the victory over my sin, and because I believe in Him, that victory over sin - and its guilt and condemnation - is now mine! Praise the Lord!! Hallelujah!!! Glory to God!!!!!