tea cup..........

Tea Cup

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a
beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding
anniversary.They both liked antiques and pottery, and
especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that?
We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the
teacup spoke"You don't understand.I have not always been a
teacup.Therewas a time when I was just a lump of red clay.
My master took me & rolled me pounded and patted me over &
over & I yelled out"Don't do that""I don't like it!"
"Let me alone"but he only smiled and gently said:"Not yet"

Then. WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel & suddenly I
was spun around and around and around."Stop it! I'm getting
so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!", I screamed.

But the master only nodded & said quietly; 'Not yet.'

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to
suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt
such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door.
"Help!Get me out of here!"I could see him through the
opening & I could read his lips as he shook his head from
side to side, 'Not yet'.

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute,the door
opened.He carefully took me out and put me on he shelf,& I
began to cool. Oh, that felt so good!"Ah, this is much
better," I thought.But, after I cooled he picked me up & he
brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible.
I thought I would gag. 'Oh,please; Stop it, Stop it!!
I cried. He only shook his head and said. 'Not yet!'.

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven. Only it was
not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just
knew I would suffocate.I begged.I pleaded.I screamed.
I cried I was convinced I would never make it.
I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and
he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I
cooled and waited and waited, wondering "What's he going
to do to me next?"
An hour later he handed me a mirror & said'Look at yourself"
And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me.
It's beautiful.I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke:"I want you to remember,I know it hurt to
be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you
alone, you'd have dried up.I know it made you dizzy to spin
around on the wheel, but if I had stopped you would have
crumbled.I know it hurt and it 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 & 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.If I hadn't put you back in that second oven,
you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness
would not have held.
Now you are a finished product.
Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you"

The moral of this story is this:
God knows what He's doing for each of us.He is the potter,
and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us,& expose us
to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we
may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His
good, pleasing and perfect will. So when life seems hard,
and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost
beyond endurance;when your world seems to be spinning out
of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace
of trials; when life seems to"stink", try this....

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup,
sit down and think on this story and then,
have a little talk with the Potter.

and let me know what he said...regards sunkan

That was a good one....encouraging one.

Thanks for posting and continue posting....

Love,
Jay