Sun Baked Clay

“You’re painting again?” My husband is very tolerant of the fact that I love to paint but he still questions it. Yesterday I painted one of the walls in my living room an accent color to make it “pop” (like they say on HGTV…)

I love the outcome but I still remember what is underneath: plaster. I’m sure some of you know what a mess plaster can be! If you hammer a nail into it you may find that the plaster crumbles around the nail; also if you try and “demo” it, you may find that it crumbles easily and it is very dusty when it crumbles.

On top of the plaster is a greenish-turquoise color that was on the walls when we moved in. To make that even more appealing picture this: the man that lived in the house before we did reportedly sat in his “easy-chair” and chain-smoked; the result of that was that you could see where every picture had hung on the walls.

The first color we painted was some sort of tan, beige very neutral color; I think I did some sort of special finish on it to make it a little more appealing. Still, a little lackluster for my taste.

After some major remodeling in the house I got to paint the living room again; the color is called “Moosewood”; it’s a special paint so I used a big wall-paper brush to put it on the walls. The result was a very textured look.

I still wasn’t quite “lovin” it because it was so much “green” (or Moosewood) so yesterday I painted again; with a paint that looks like suede. The name of the color is “Sun Baked Clay.”

I was just admiring it again – I am satisfied…for a few years I suppose!

As I think the transformation of this wall from the time we moved in until now (13 plus years) not only has the color and texture changed, but the things around it have changed as well. Rooms have been remodeled, walls knocked down, steps moved, new windows, new furniture…you get the idea.

The colors have changed but the wall is still plaster.

I’m kind of like that wall. Underneath everything I am a mess and I can crumble easily.

Throughout the years I have been painted ugly colors and have had gross stains on me. I acted so selfishly and did whatever I wanted to; I was interested in only pleasing myself.

As time past, God began convicting me of the ugliness and stains that I had; so I tried to “paint’ myself in a more appealing color. It changed the outside, to some extent, but the inside was still ugly.

Then God began remodeling; a long and inconvenient and sometimes uncomfortable process.

And in the new color, Sun Baked Clay, God has reminded me that I am a work in progress.

Jeremiah 18:4 says: “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.”

The pot…was…marred…I was marred! I love the transformation that the Potter has done with the clay-me; and I pray that this pot, no matter how uncomfortable it is, will continually be shaped to serve God’s purposes and that throughout all the re-shaping, I become more and more pleasing to God.