Shaping

    Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?  Romans 9:21 (NIV) 

     The call to be shaped, to surrender to the 'bend' that comes.  Pushed out beyond the self designed boundaries of what should be.  In-between rigid walls and swaying reeds lies the pliable moments where things are in flux.  Can I yield to the shaping?  I know who the Potter is, and I am clear that I am the clay, but sometimes I don't want to feel the truth that I am, after all, malleable in His hands. These past few days were challenges for me to let go on multiple fronts.  I found myself in that constant quick-prayer state, giving it over, and over, and over.......

     Despite my best efforts at staving off the jet lag,  I spent a mostly sleepless Thursday night with that debilitating dizziness and nausea that kept me begging God for relief.  I slept fitfully, doing battle, and thankfully managed to make it to morning chapel.  The class roster kept fluxing right up to a few hours before it started.  There will be a returning student from last year to do advanced work.  I rushed home to put together a second course which will run simultaneously with the one I planned to teach.  Queasiness stayed with me till the end, but with the help of a student doing copying prep and assistance in class by the on-island counselor, Kaki, I made it to and through class.   

     This year, we ended with a very small number in the class.   However,  all of the students are Pastors coming in from off campus, and once again from varied cultures. 

Through the sickness, the uncertainty, I felt 'that' peace He promises.  Grateful to be in the unfolding drama of His plan.