A couple weeks ago, one of the pastors of our church, Pastor Care Crawford, gave one of the most moving sermons. Care's voice is very soothing anyway, so that added to the nuances of the story. And the fact that the sermon sounded more like a story made it even more intriguing for me.

Care talked about loving Play-Doh as a child, and taking a pottery class in college. I was totally in sync with what she was saying because that was me, too. Then she talked about the Bible passages about God being like a potter with plans for each and every pot that he makes. And we're the clay.

Since Care has had pottery classes, she explained exactly what happens in the creation of a pot. And since I've taken a pottery class, I knew what she was talking about, and I could completely see the parallels between the potter and the clay, and God and us.

It's not that I haven't heard sermons on this topic before, but the life I've been living recently has been seriously tough. And being reminded about how you have to handle clay to make a beautiful pot was seriously helpful in gaining perspective on what's been happening.

Right down to remembering what it's like to squeeze the clay back down to a ball because it's not shaping up right. I didn't do that because I hated the pot I was making or because I had it in for the clay. I did it because I knew I could make the pot better and the clay could take it. I've still got some pots I made in college, and I still love them.

So I've been trying to keep in mind lately that God knows what he's trying to accomplish, and it's better than the life I've lived until now. And like the clay, God believes I can take the pounding. That makes me believe I can, too.