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We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

We walk through the door of a room that smells of earth and dirt, fallen trees, and ancient seasons. The table is rectangular, surrounded by a rainbow of small chairs. My daughter and I are decades ahead of our fellow participants in this clay class. The others are pig-tailed and freckled, dark-headed and clad in neon tennis shoes. “Did you know it would be like this?” she asks. “Nope,” I reply. We grin.

I signed up for this class as part of my resolution to be a tourist in my hometown this year, to do things I never have before. I’d pictured fellow adults around me, a serious and substantial exercise. Instead, it’s like art class in elementary school. Already the table is messy. Already it’s clear I’m not among Picassos or Monets. I’m delighted and relieved.

We sit and the instructor points to a block of gray in front of us. “This is your clay. Today we are going to shape it into hearts.” We trace outlines on the surface with a thin stick, then dig deep. All that is not necessary or useful is stripped away. We hold the hearts in our hands, and their cool, still surfaces grow warm and alive beneath our touch.

“Now you can design them however you’d like,” the teacher says. My daughter chooses freehand. She swirls and writes. I use little presses to make polka dots and patterns. Hers will be spoon rests. Mine a set of ornaments. And I think of Jeremiah, sent by God to the potter’s house, and how this prophet watched a craftsman with the clay, “shaping it as it seemed best to him” (Jer. 18:4).

This work is intimate and personal. There is no mass production. No uniformity or conformity. It would be impossible to replicate one of these. Two little girls across from us gleefully push their hands into their pieces and I see fingerprints. If we ever wonder if God wants us to be like someone else, ever worry He’s disinterested in the details of our lives, ever fret He’s after machine-like perfection with us, then all we need to remember is that He is a Potter.

After we shape, we paint. But before this comes a disclaimer from the instructor: “When the clay goes through the fire, it will come out white.” This is beautiful and familiar to me, the way trials bring out something unexpectedly lovely and strong in us. I choose red paint and follow lines and curves, working with care. And the whole time I have this vision in my mind of what will be. I work toward that, steadily, and when the form is imperfect, when it has dents or cracks, uneven edges or inconsistencies, I am not deterred. I understand this is the nature of clay.

And I come to understand, too, this clay has but one role: to yield itself to my care. It has nothing to worry about, to fear, to strive for as long as it remains in my hands. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). We are dirt and we are the crafts of divinity. We are dust and delight. We are in progress and already perfectly loved.

At the end of the class, I look at the places where those plain gray slabs had been. Each one now holds a new creation. Some thick-skinned. Others delicate. Pink and yellow and blue. Some decorated with ponies and others looking suspiciously like pizza slices. None of them are museum- or art-gallery worthy. But they all have this in common: each reflects their maker in some way.

And I realize, suddenly, this was always the whole purpose, the entire point. To display the vision of the Artist is what success looks like for clay.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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This post is an excerpt from my new devotional, Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You. It’s a little book that’s big on encouragement. Get your copy (and some extra for Christmas gifts) at your favorite place for books today and you’ll also get an exclusive, limited-time only ebook, Hope for the Holidays (get all the details here). Yay!

I’m also over at (in)courage today sharing about how you truly are making a difference. Join me?

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You’re invited to join the “Let’s Have Coffee” link-up! Simply write a post that has the kind of encouragement you’d share with a friend over coffee (the link-up goes live at 5:30am CT every Wednesday, and you can view the Link-Up Guidelines here). Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.

After you link-up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked just before yours. Thanks, friends!

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I stand at the sink, dirty pan in hand. I smell citrus in the soap, hear the warm water flow, move the brush in circles over the last bits of burnt cheese. I feel small in this space, ordinary and rooted to the ground. I have been here for a long while now, in this kitchen, on this earth, and I silently ask, What’s my purpose?

Across the street a mama or grandma might be asking the same as she changes the tenth diaper of the day. Maybe in the center of town someone is leaning her head on her desk with the door closed, just resting for a moment on that stack of spreadsheets and wondering this too.

When we ask this question and silence seems to be the answer, we often go searching. We’ll say yes to another opportunity or perhaps run away from it all. We’ll join that cool play group or volunteer at the soup kitchen on Fridays. We might jockey for the promotion or put in the long hours. My purpose is out there somewhere, we think, and one day I’ll find it.

But then the opportunity doesn’t go as planned, the giving leaves us empty, and our souls grow pale in the fluorescent light. “Something else will do it,” we say, “Surely it will be the next thing.” And on we go with our gypsy hearts.

It’s understandable, this great migration. We live in a culture that tells us the purpose of life is about us. We must find that one thing we are here to do and then all will be well; we will be whole. But when I look closer at how “purpose” is used in Scripture, there’s a different story.

The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Ps. 33:11)

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Prov. 19:21)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28)

The purposes of his heart, the Lord’s purpose, his purpose—over and over when purpose is described, it comes from God and belongs to Him. Also, purpose isn’t talked about much in terms of just individual people. It is more often spoken of as an ongoing thread that stretches through all of history and eternity. It is so much bigger than us. So when we go looking only for “our” purpose, we are disappointed. What changes everything is when we understand that a meaningful life is not just about finding our purpose but joining God’s.

If we want to be part of God’s purposes today, then we simply love Him, others, and ourselves. That means standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes can be worship. It means that another diaper changed can be an act of sacred service. It means the work project done well can be an offering. It means we don’t have to find purpose only “out there.” It can also be “right here.”

The square of earth you are standing on is the only place in all of history and the entire universe where both you and God are right now. It’s where His purposes and you, a person created by Him, come together. This is not small or inconsequential. It is beautiful and powerful. It is holy, meaningful ground.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

This post is an excerpt from my new devotional, Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You. Look for it today at your favorite place for books, or sponsor a child through this link and Compassion will send you a free copy!

P.S. If you serve in ministry, I’d love to send you a free book as a thank-you gift! Find all the details here.

And, if you’re in the Arkansas/Oklahoma/Missouri area, I’d love to see you at the She Found Joy event on October 26th! It’s going to be a one-night mini retreat. More details here.

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You’re invited to join the “Let’s Have Coffee” link-up! Simply write a post that has the kind of encouragement you’d share with a friend over coffee (the link-up goes live at 5:30am CT every Wednesday, and you can view the Link-Up Guidelines here). Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.

After you link-up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked just before yours. Thanks, friends!

{Want to share a word of encouragement on Twitter? Click this link and then tweet!}

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A new friend leans in as if she’s about to share a scandalous confession. She whispers, “My dreams are too small.” Then she shares about her desire to raise her kids to love Jesus, make a difference in her neighborhood and serve at her church. I smile and answer, “I think your dreams are just right. A God-sized dream isn’t really about size at all—it’s about what perfectly fits your heart and His purpose for your life.” She responds, “But others are doing bigger things for God like going far away to serve Him. I feel like my life isn’t enough.”

Those words echo what I’ve heard from thousands of other women. Somehow we’ve believed the lie that what we do needs to be flashy, noticeable and worthy of headlines in order to be spiritual. Yet the more I look at what matters to God, the more I’ve become convinced that isn’t true. My husband and I keep this verse in our office: “Seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). One phrase in particular stands out to me, seek to lead a quiet life.

In our busy, noisy, get-ahead culture those words are revolutionary. Yes, there may be times when God asks us to go on intense adventures with Him. But I believe we underestimate how often His invitation is simply for us to be faithful where we are with who He’s already put in front of us. As another friend of mine recently said, “A lot of ordinary days add up to an extraordinary life.”

I’ve heard it said that September is a bit like January, a time when we can pause and reflect. With that in mind, I’d like to challenge all of us to make three new, wildly different resolutions this fall…

• First, let’s intentionally say “no” more often. If we are doing something just because we “should” then we can pause and ask, “God, is this really Your best for me or is this just adding extra noise to my life?”
• Next let’s make room for rest. Isaiah 30:15 says, “You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence.” Rest isn’t selfish—it’s essential for a lifetime of service.
• Finally, let’s change our idea of what we think really matters. What seems “huge” and popular is often small to God. And what goes unnoticed in our world is often a highlight from heaven’s perspective.

As my new friend and I wrap up our conversation, I hug her and say, “You’re doing more for the Kingdom than you realize. You’re making a difference beyond what you can see. Your ‘small’ is worth more than you could ever measure.” I’m saying the same to all of us today.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

Exciting News: Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You releases this month. God used the truths in this devotional to bring new hope and strength to my weary, discouraged heart and now I’m sharing them with you. Preorder or read a free excerpt.

P.S. I’m speaking at The Declare Conference in October, and I’d love to see you there! Declare is a conference for women who write, blog, speak and podcast. The Declare team has given me a special code — VIPHolley — just for my followers, good for $200 off. But it’s only good for the first 10 people to use it, so don’t wait too long. I hope to see you there in October!

*This post includes affiliate links.

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You’re invited to join the “Let’s Have Coffee” link-up! Simply write a post that has the kind of encouragement you’d share with a friend over coffee (the link-up goes live at 5:30am CT every Wednesday, and you can view the Link-Up Guidelines here). Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.

After you link-up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked just before yours. Thanks, friends!

{Want to share a word of encouragement on Twitter? Click this link and then tweet!}

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