Clay + Fire = beauty

To be transformed by fire is hot. You never know when the heat will be turned up, when the water will come, and when the relief is near. All you see is sitting in the flames and feeling the pain. You are too scared to look down for fear that you are burning, and you are too afraid to cry because fire absorbs water.

How do you survive? The answer is all in the pain. If you are not burned then you will not shine. You will stay soft and pliable more apt to be crushed. To be burned is to become strong, to feel the glaze harden up and to start to see the beauty of the carvings and colors that the potter has created in you.

Cool refreshing water can be found in the Potters hands. Once the kilm is finished to be dipped in water is to be cleansed of the soot and the shame of the fire and to be transformed into something you can use.

Today I feel more secure and beautiful than ever before. I feel that even though I'm walking through the storm I feel as if I'm walking on water surrounded by angels walking me over the waves. never before have I felt this at peace because I know without fail that I would not be here if my heavenly Father was not carrying me through the storm.

there is a famous song that says "sometimes he calms the storm, and other times he calms his child" The storm continues but he has calmed my heart.

His plan will succeed!!

There will always be a Sarah Angie......

Growing up a girl picked on me all the time. Her name was Sarah Angie and she invaded my life from 1st grade through highschool. This girl was so mean just looking at her if you weren't her friend made you cry. She was the verbal abuse champion of the world.

My parents told me, "honey, we understand and feel your pain and will help you in whatever way possible, however know that as you grow older you will always have someone in your life that is a thorn in your side." As I grew up I realized the wisdom of these words.

Today at 24 I realize that the thorns will never go away and to learn to live with them has grown to be a challenge. How do you learn to handle a thorn. If you handle a rose carefully thorns and all you can avoid being cut. In reality if you try to handle a thorny person carefully you can get cut and burned at the same time. If you handle them sternly they only dig deeper.

The question I'm to ponder is the world supposed to accept the reality that thorns will be thorns and you will be cut no matter what? This doesn't seem fair, there should be a way to avoid confrontation?

So today I look at my life and see the Sarah Angie's coming out of the wood work and wonder will I have have my rose with out the thorns.