I wanted to share a couple of stories with you. One story before the other.
A few of my neighbors, in a way, decided to make the bottom of my driveway the new neighborhood bus stop. Every morning at 8:20 the cars all pull up in front of my house. My neighbors, strangers we don’t know, and their kids show up, stand in my driveway, and wait for the bus. Of coarse my dogs go crazy barking and running all around. My wife is completely annoyed so I made a few phone calls to try to get the new bus stop moved too our next door neighbors house that has the kids that get picked up, but still they all end up in my driveway. We have always maintained our property, it’s plowed and kept clean. My neighbors, who are well aware of how we feel, are slobs. For me it’s an irritation, but I figure it is what it is, I refuse, refuse to let passive aggressive people get the better of me! My wife however can’t let it go. Just the other day she went out in the rain to ask, while the crowd was in my driveway, our next door neighbor, whose kids get picked up at our house, why does the bus stop at our house and not at yours? I told my wife “just let it go, it’s not up to her”. “They’re miserable and want you to be miserable”. I know my wife showing her aggravation brings them their twisted joy.
This is one of life’s small irritations, that we all have, a test of our patience. 5 years ago I probably would have been really mad as well, but I’ve learned a lot in the past 5 years. I don’t want to be in that same place I was 5 years ago. Here’s the rest of the story, I hope you enjoy it.
There was an older couple that liked to go to antique shops and buy small old beautiful things. One day they came across the most beautiful teacup they had ever seen. The tea cup began to talk to them. It said “I haven’t always looked like this, there was a time when no one wanted me. I wasn’t attractive, I was just a hard lump of clay. But then this potter came along and began to shape me and mold me. So I said hey that makes me uncomfortable, leave me alone that hurts, the potter smiled and said not yet. Then he put me on a wheel and began to spin me around and around, I got so dizzy but after a while I had taken on a new shape, he formed me into this tea cup. I thought he was finished but then he put me into a furnace, it was so hot I didn’t think I could stand it. When he came and looked at me through the window of that furnace I screamed, let met out of here I’m going to die, he said not yet. He finally took me out and put me on a shelf so I could cool off and I said thank goodness it’s over, now I can go back to being my normal self. But then the potter came back. He picked me up again and began to paint me, changing me from a dull grey to this beautiful blue. The paint was sticky and smelled terrible, I thought I was going to choke, I told him to “please stop, please” and he said not yet. Then again he put me into a second oven that was twice as hot as the first one. This time I knew it was over. I screamed I can’t take it, I’m going to die, again he said not yet. Finally he opened the oven door and put me back on the shelf.
A few days passed and he came by and handed me a mirror and when I looked at myself I couldn’t believe how beautiful I had become. I couldn’t believe how much I had changed. I didn’t look anything like that old lump of clay I once was. There was a time when nobody wanted me but now I’m this beautiful teacup, valuable, expensive, unique, all because of this potter. He made me into something amazing”.
Isn’t this the way God works in all of our lives? He changes us little by little from glory to glory, but on the way to the glory there will always be some suffering. We yell “God get me off of this wheel, I can’t deal with this neighbor, I can’t handle this boss that’s mean too me, I can’t deal with this child”, but God just smiles and says not yet. We see our flaws we see that clay, but God sees the tea cup. We’re all a work in progress which is a good thing. When we go through the hard times we should be aware the hard times helps us grow into what we should become.
I know in 5 years I don’t want to be this same person in this same place that I am today. Keep moving forward and enjoy today. J.Goodrich
I wanted to share a couple of stories with you. One story before the other.
A few of my neighbors, in a way, decided to make the bottom of my driveway the new neighborhood bus stop. Every morning at 8:20 the cars all pull up in front of my house. My neighbors, strangers we don’t know, and their kids show up, stand in my driveway, and wait for the bus. Of coarse my dogs go crazy barking and running all around. My wife is completely annoyed so I made a few phone calls to try to get the new bus stop moved too our next door neighbors house that has the kids that get picked up, but still they all end up in my driveway. We have always maintained our property, it’s plowed and kept clean. My neighbors, who are well aware of how we feel, are slobs. For me it’s an irritation, but I figure it is what it is, I refuse, refuse to let passive aggressive people get the better of me! My wife however can’t let it go. Just the other day she went out in the rain to ask, while the crowd was in my driveway, our next door neighbor, whose kids get picked up at our house, why does the bus stop at our house and not at yours? I told my wife “just let it go, it’s not up to her”. “They’re miserable and want you to be miserable”. I know my wife showing her aggravation brings them their twisted joy.
This is one of life’s small irritations, that we all have, a test of our patience. 5 years ago I probably would have been really mad as well, but I’ve learned a lot in the past 5 years. I don’t want to be in that same place I was 5 years ago. Here’s the rest of the story, I hope you enjoy it.
There was an older couple that liked to go to antique shops and buy small old beautiful things. One day they came across the most beautiful teacup they had ever seen. The tea cup began to talk to them. It said “I haven’t always looked like this, there was a time when no one wanted me. I wasn’t attractive, I was just a hard lump of clay. But then this potter came along and began to shape me and mold me. So I said hey that makes me uncomfortable, leave me alone that hurts, the potter smiled and said not yet. Then he put me on a wheel and began to spin me around and around, I got so dizzy but after a while I had taken on a new shape, he formed me into this tea cup. I thought he was finished but then he put me into a furnace, it was so hot I didn’t think I could stand it. When he came and looked at me through the window of that furnace I screamed, let met out of here I’m going to die, he said not yet. He finally took me out and put me on a shelf so I could cool off and I said thank goodness it’s over, now I can go back to being my normal self. But then the potter came back. He picked me up again and began to paint me, changing me from a dull grey to this beautiful blue. The paint was sticky and smelled terrible, I thought I was going to choke, I told him to “please stop, please” and he said not yet. Then again he put me into a second oven that was twice as hot as the first one. This time I knew it was over. I screamed I can’t take it, I’m going to die, again he said not yet. Finally he opened the oven door and put me back on the shelf.
A few days passed and he came by and handed me a mirror and when I looked at myself I couldn’t believe how beautiful I had become. I couldn’t believe how much I had changed. I didn’t look anything like that old lump of clay I once was. There was a time when nobody wanted me but now I’m this beautiful teacup, valuable, expensive, unique, all because of this potter. He made me into something amazing”.
Isn’t this the way God works in all of our lives? He changes us little by little from glory to glory, but on the way to the glory there will always be some suffering. We yell “God get me off of this wheel, I can’t deal with this neighbor, I can’t handle this boss that’s mean too me, I can’t deal with this child”, but God just smiles and says not yet. We see our flaws we see that clay, but God sees the tea cup. We’re all a work in progress which is a good thing. When we go through the hard times we should be aware the hard times helps us grow into what we should become.
I know in 5 years I don’t want to be this same person in this same place that I am today. Keep moving forward and enjoy today. J.Goodrich
Got some good ones there!