Ceramics Pt. 4 - Shaping

At first thought, maybe ceramics seems like an art that requires just your arms. However, that is truly not the case. The pedal, directed by your foot, controls the speed of the wheel. 

[There is such a thing as a kick wheel, which requires even more movement of the foot to literally get the wheel to spin. I work on an electric wheel.]

Sometimes, I find myself completely focused on my hands, that I forget that the speed of the wheel affects how my hands are touching the clay. If you are pulling and the wheel is turning too slowly, the piece is bound to be off center. If you are shaping and the wheel is turning too fast, you might put an unfixable dent in your clay. The speed matters!

Well, I find that this dandy little lesson translates directly into my life. I have two speeds: turbo & dead. I like to go FAST. I like to go, go, go & get it all done. Then there are times where I don't get out of bed for like a week. I am very much an extremist. As I seek to find more balance in my life, two dear friends of mine (mind you, they don't know each other & talked to me on separate occasions) gave me Tortoise & the Hare advice: 

slow & steady wins the race. 

I get very impatient when it comes to things that I would rather just get done. I get overwhelmed easily by a long to-do list, but I am finding that sometimes there are things that require you to sit and wait. You have to let the process happen. I deposited my check, so I want it to automatically usable money to pay my tuition bill, so I can then start moving in my things to my apartment. UM, hello. These things take 3-5 business days. Patience. Slow & steady. What is God thinking about all of this?

I hope He admires my passion - my passion to do things well and to give all of my heart into anything that I do. However, God is THE perfect example of patience. God is love & love is patient. ¿HELP?

Knowing that patience is quite the noble trait, I often get very discouraged that I have like..... none. But this morning as I looked through the Bible to stories & verses that point to patience, I began to realize that I am not alone. The Bible is filled, and I mean filled, with accounts of people who wanted things to be on their own time. They wanted to hurry up & get things done. They wanted to see the work of their own hands & feel like progress was made. Well, that's exactly me. 

Habakkuk 2:3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

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Jeremiah 18:2-4

 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

As I am just a practicing away, I face the mountain of steps that it takes to complete a product of ceramics from start to finish. Each little part, so crucial to the end product. I am afraid. One hiccup (literally or figuratively... HA!) has potential to ruin a piece -- if you're being small-minded, that is. Ruin it or create it? Some of my most treasured pieces have come from me sitting down - thinking I knew what I wanted to make - and then being flexible when things didn't quite go as planned. A mug with a top too thin... turned into a vase with a beautiful detailed top. A bowl that was too thin in the middle fell apart, and now I have a really nice place to put my rings in a smaller dish that is wavy & aesthetically pleasing. 

As I think about my own life, I relate to the clay. The failed project clay. I think my perspective comes from previous pain. I really would not be who I am or how I am without going through the "WOOPS" moments that can oftentimes create such a beautiful piece of pottery. If you're going through a WOOPS, if you're suffering the consequences of a WOOPS, my friend, there is hope beyond comprehension for you. Perspective takes time. Don't lose heart, because our God is a redeemer. 

Isaiah 47:4

Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.

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{getting rid of the excess}

James 1:21 "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

I have spent the last few days moving into my apartment for my junior year of college. This is the first year I have not lived in the dorms, which is quite an exciting change for an INTJ like me!!! I was not cut out for dormitory living.

One of my real anxieties about moving everything I've ever owned to a small, shared apartment was AM I BRINGING TOO MUCH STUFF? I really had to cut back and reevaluate how I am living. 6 bags and counting, headed to be donated & recycled, I am left in awe. I do not feel emptier. I do not feel poorer. I do not feel like I am missing something. 

Because it was a hard lesson to learn as I carried in boxes upon boxes upon boxes out to my car and then out of my car all by myself. I literally felt the weight of owning & hoarding as much stuff as I do. So, what are the necessities?

Well, hygiene things, a fantastic closet of shoes, some teacher sweaters................

but before all of that.....

Jesus, give me Jesus.

Not that having all these things is necessarily wrong (a creative type like myself might never know when you are going to need those pair of ripped jeans to upcycle into something fabulous), but if I don't want to fall into the trap of being dependent on these things. 

Jesus, give me Jesus.

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 {perspective}

What I love about this picture is that it gives me the bigger picture. I want to know that what I'm doing now will be worth it later. Pictured, there are three finished pieces, one in my hands, and a piece that refused to stick to the wheel, so I had to set it aside for a while. And so it is. There are different stages and processes in life. Currently, I am working to become a teacher. I just entered my junior year. I feel so close, and yet, so far away from being in my own classroom. I want to know that all the late nights of lesson plans I put in now will pay off later. The answer might be simple to a well-rested, clear-minded professor. To me, the weary college student? IS IT WORTH IT? Yes. 

I am certainly not a finished piece, and I think I am being pulled and stretched to reach my own capacity. At some point, I may wear thin and break, but then - even then - there is hope of redemption. I can be remolded, reworked, reshaped into the teacher I am called to be. Maybe we are all just at different parts of our processes. If ceramics does one thing, it helps me appreciate the process -- the slow, arduous task of reaching your full potential. I am clay in God's hands. And if I go through the fire and things don't go exactly right? There is 

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1 Thessalonians 4:11 -  and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,