WORTH READING 2 Feb 2006

Hold and Carry On

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful
stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups.
This
was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said,
"May
we see that? We've never seen one quiet so beautiful." As the lady
handed
it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand," it said,
"I
haven't always been a teacup."

"There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and
rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone,'
but
he only smiled, 'Not yet.'

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly
I
was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!'
I
screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'

"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he
wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see
him
through the opening and I could read his lips, as he shook his head,
'Not
yet!'

"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.
'There that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over.
The
fumes were horrible; I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I
cried.
He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one.
This
was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded, I
screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening
nodding his head saying, 'Not yet!'

"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready
to
give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the
shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at
yourself.'
And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful.

I'm beautiful.'

"'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled
and
patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it
made
you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would
have
crumbled. I knew it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I
hadn't
put you there, you would have cracked.

"'I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but
if
I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have
had
any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in the second
oven,
you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have
held.

"'Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I
first
began you.'"

Moral:
While you are in your thoughest phase of life, God is taking you through
the
journey to make the best of what he has thought about you. Hold yourself
and
carry on.

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