Today my daughter and I spent the afternoon being creative.We went to a pottery studio in
My daughter painted a plate shaped like a slice of pizza, while I tackled a glazing technique on a toothbrush holder. As my daughter painted her crust, Anne handed me a rust-colored bottle of glaze.
“Is this the green color?” I asked.
“Yes. It will be once it’s fired. This doesn’t contain any dyes, so the color you see isn’t what it will be. It’s what is inside that creates the beautiful green color once it’s fired.” Anne replied.
I painted on the rust glaze, but it looked more like a terra-cotta lump rather than a one-of-a-kind iridescent green toothbrush holder. I ignored what it looked like on the outside, and tried to imagine how the chunks I intentionally placed would melt down the sides when fired, to create the beautiful array of colors and hues.
“I thought you were using the green color, Mom?” my daughter said unimpressed by my terra-cotta container.
“I am. She said it’s what is inside that creates the color, so it won’t show up until fired.”
As we painted, glazed, and contemplated how incredible our pottery would look in the end, I couldn’t get out of my mind what Anne said, “It’s what is inside that creates the beautiful color …”
It’s what is inside that matters … an important truth that flows into every part of our lives. We often make sure we present ourselves in the right light, however it isn’t how great we look but what comes from our heart that counts. Life isn’t about our children being perfect performers, but more about whether we are helping them become all that God designed them to be.
As parents, it’s easy for us to look only at today rather than beyond the immediate picture. Just like my toothbrush holder, the colors we instill in our children won’t fully shine until they mature and endure a bit of fire along the way.
Let’s teach our children today what will help them glisten in the future. It’s the end result that matters!
