Radiant Beauty!

     Estate sales have taught me a valuable lesson - don't judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, don''t judge what is inside a home by a vanilla stucco exterior!  A home on a street where all homes shared a strong resemblance, was unique when the front door opened - because it had been filled by an artist and collector of modern art! Like stepping into a museum, it was hard to know where to look first - each wall holding something more interesting than the next!

     Okay - of course I knew where to look first - at the jewelry! But before I was able to head in that direction something caught my eye. Two cobalt blue Lucite sculptures...

"Gems" 1 & 2 of 25 by R.R. Reynolds Jr.

     Modern Lucite sculptures do not interest me. Normally. These, however...had this glow that radiated from the inside out. Of course seeing their name, "Gems" engraved in the bottom when I flipped them over was a sign that they needed to go into my "hold" pile by the cashier.

     On further inspection, I was able to see that the inside had been carved out, and with some clever sculpting, Reynolds had been able to make the carved areas shine brighter than the dark blue surrounding them. 

     There are people who seem to radiate a kindness, love, and compassion as they move through life. I'm sure you've met one...and were drawn to them. Usually, when you hear their life story, it isn't one of privilege - most often they've been touched by pain or tragedy. But instead of letting tribulation leave them in darkness and defeat, they've allowed Jesus Christ to turn it into something beautiful.That carving out of self allows His beauty to radiate in us. The work of art He creates may look like Elisabeth Elliot, a woman who went to Ecuador to share Jesus Christ with the same tribe who had earlier killed her husband, missionary Jim Elliot. She allowed a carving away of the anger and bitterness she might have been justified in feeling; instead,  the same love Jesus Christ has for a people dying in sin and without hope, radiated through her to them.

     Paul shared, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

"Something beautiful, something good

All my confusion He understood

All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife

But He made something beautiful of my life."

                                                          - Bill Gaither

     

The Potter and the Clay - Art Fair Treasures!

     Our small town on the edge of the desert hosts a great art fair twice each year. Thousands flood past the tents lining the center of town, shopping for that one-of-a-kind creation being offered by some of the best artists and crafts people in the Southwest! The fair is a feast of color, kettle corn and alternative music - it draws a crowd as diverse as the art work it offers.

     I admit that I don't always attend. The crowds can be a little overwhelming, and like most of the residents of this town, I am drawn here by the quiet life our town offers. However, it's hard to stay away for too many fairs in a row; after missing a few I'll find myself caught up again in the flow, ducking in those white tents hunting for a treasure to take home.

     Without fail, I end up in the same spot...

   

                                                                                      ...circling the shelves of pottery!

     Each piece is unique, fashioned by hand, never completely perfect - but all beautiful!  I'm afraid it may be an addiction as I look around our home, one I've had for years. The wavy finished lidded pot is a piece from 25 years ago, made by a Virginia artist, purchased at an Ohio art show!


     God, our Father, tells us that we are clay - and He is the potter. Each of us is the "work of His hand".

     Tall, short, bumpy, round...each unique, each one of a kind, each the work of a Master.

     Can you imagine a piece of clay, while being formed into a beautiful vessel, looking up at the potter and asking, "Why did you make me this way?" Or when it's finished, " You didn't make me - you know nothing! I evolved into this work of art from a lump of clay!"

    Of course not! What an absurd idea!

     But that's exactly what we do.

     When we question why we look the way we do...

     When we deny God as Creator, the One responsible for forming man out of the dust of the ground and breathing life into him...

     At the art fair I'm looking for unique pottery, things I don't have, to add to my collection. After watching artists create some of these pots and vases, it is obvious that a lump of clay will never be anything but a lump of clay until that artist molds and shapes it.

     Our Father has created us....made each of us unique...with a purpose in mind. It is up to us to acknowledge Him as the Potter, accept our role as clay in His hands, and trust Him to make our lives a work of art that brings praise to Him!

"Have thine own way Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still."

Hymn lyrics by Adelaide A. Pollard  1862-1934
   

What's Really in That Storage Unit Box? Not Always a Treasure!

     In pursuit of a different kind of treasure last week end, we decided to take a few days off and enjoy the cooler weather on the West coast. Passing through a beach community we stumbled upon a large swap meet and decided to stop. And off we went, ready to hunt for the treasure we normally pursue!

Like these rhinestone, faux pearls and beautiful bead work, Haskell/Hagler style vintage earrings!

     We wandered up and down the rows, stopping to look at the vintage, and not so vintage offerings of the vendors. While I lingered over a table of costume jewelry, my husband pressed on- and found a celebrity, of the treasure hunting sort! He hurried back, and guided me through the tables to stand before one of the key players in a reality show based on the purchase of storage unit contents. Of course he was easy to recognize with his name written in huge letters on the side of the truck parked behind his space.

     Now, if you watch this reality show, perhaps you've been led to believe that most every locker these guys purchase is full of amazing treasures. The kind of things a special appraiser has to look at, and then values at a price much higher than the buyer paid for the entire unit. However, this is not necessarily so...

     A patchwork of tarps in front of the celebrity and his truck told a different story. There on the ground were piles of mismatched, broken, unwanted items - the real contents of storage units not shown during the television show.

     It seems that though some units do yield treasure -safes full of jewelry or coins - many are also filled with boxes of junk that people won't  throw away. And so they drag it around... and store it... paying a price to keep hold of what they just can't let go of...

     It's amazing, until we consider our own lives. Someone hurts us, and we stuff it in a box, refusing to deal with the person or the pain, until it grows into a hard and unforgiving attitude. Over time, bitterness sets in and we are hauling a box of trash around with us wherever we go. And do we ever pay a price for storing it! Many health problems can be directly linked to how we handle the stress of  anger, and inability to forgive.

     Sooner or later, that box of trash surfaces, just like the ones in the storage units. It's opened, and where treasure is what's hoped for, junk spills out everywhere.

     Jesus stated it like this, " Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

     The very things that we have boxed up and stored in our heart - eventually will spill out of our mouths. The anger, the bitterness...laid out like the mess on the tarps, so that everyone sees the truth about what was inside - even though we've tried to act like only treasure was stored there!

     We choose what to keep...what gets stored in our hearts. If we fill it to the top with the treasure of His Word, there won't be any room for those boxes of junk...