One of the frequent activities that helps develop fine motor skills is playing with clay.  I love walking into the classroom when children are playing with play dough, because it gives me the opportunity to converse with them, glimpsing their creativity and their imagination.  The great thing about play dough is that it can easily be reformed if the creator does not like his creation.  

A flower can easily become a dog, which can easily become a person, which can easily become a truck… all just by starting over.  However, that’s not true for clay that has been fired.  Once the firing has taken place, the clay loses its malleability.  In fact, too much pressure may cause it to break, damaging the creation. 

The new year, or new semester of the school year, is a good time to question where changes need to be made and to make those necessary changes.  There’s a fresh start with 2021.  Many of us begin the new year by making resolutions that will lead to positive changes or build better habits.  The school year is halfway through, but the grade book for the second semester does not yet have many entries.  So it’s a good time to ask, “How do I want this year to end?  What will it take to get there?  What do I need to change?”

Billy Graham once wrote, “God is the God of the second chance—and the hundredth chance, and the thousandth chance! No matter how rebellious and sinful we’ve been, He always stands ready to forgive us and welcome us home if we truly repent and commit our lives to Jesus Christ.”  He wants to provide the tools we need to change.  In fact, He Himself would like to do the remolding.  Like Isaiah, we can say, “We are the clay, You are the potter.  We are all the work of Your hand.”  (Isaiah 64:8)

In light of the recent unrest in our nation, I share a similar passage that applies this principle to Israel from Jeremiah 18:1-8. “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  Then the word of the Lord came to me.  He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.  If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.  And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.’”  May we, His people who are called by His name, humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways so that He will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Minds:
Take the time to evaluate your own life.  If you are a parent, it’s a great time to have a discussion with your child.  What changes should you be making?  It’s not too late to make those changes.  Ask God to help you in the process to do the molding and shaping.

Hearts: 
Please pray for our nation, as well as for this generation of future leaders that are being trained in our school right now.  Remember, the mission of NHCS is to “equip hearts and minds of students to impact the world for Jesus Christ.”