"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14)

One of the wonderful things about a potter is that he never forgets the type of medium with which he is working. He knows it's clay. He expects it to feel like clay. He understands its character, its make-up, and its consistency. He knows how it will respond to his gentle pressure. As a mindful craftsman, he is conscious of changes in its texture and what must be done to shape it. I think the greatest virtue of his skill is not so much experience as it is patience. He takes his time and works that lump until it conforms to his hands. He shapes and strokes it until the clay matches the image in his mind and the passion in his heart.

The Will of the Potter

"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd [clay vessel] strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?" (Isaiah 45:9)

A hard lump of clay is not easily pliable. A potter wants to work with clay that has the right consistency and can be shaped to his liking without using a hammer and chisel. Clay has no authority. On its own it can only sit on the potter's wheel and dry out. The craftsman shapes and designs and the clay yields. That's it. When all is said and done, the vessel will reflect the image that the designer intended. It will be valuable and serve a specific purpose.

Perhaps some of the most "quarrelsome" lumps of clay are not our children, but you and me. How many times have we cried out to God with anger on our lips and resentment in our hearts, "What are you doing, Lord? Why can't they understand this? Where am I going wrong? Why is this happening again?" . . . as if He were accountable to us!  Sometimes it's not about them, it's all about us.

Remember that you and I are lumps of clay in the same Master's hand and spinning on the same potter's wheel. He has called us to homeschool our children, not just for their good, but for our good as well. This is His way of shaping you and me into the kind of parents that exude an abundance of grace and mercy and holiness. Through homeschooling, we parents are becoming disciplined in character. We are growing in our understanding. We are being groomed for eternal rewards. The Lord is changing us as much as He is changing them.

The Extreme Makeover

"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." (Jeremiah 18:4)

How have our lives changed since we started homeschooling? Are you the same person you used to be? I, for one, am not. I was a vessel "spoiled in the hand of the potter" and the Master had to remake me over (and over, and over . . .) again.