There was this couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups.

One day in a beautiful fine shop, they saw this beautiful teacup.

The man said, “May I see that? I never have seen one quite so beautiful.” And the lady handed it to him.

As she handed it to him, suddenly the teacup spoke:

“You don’t understand,” it said, “I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘Let me alone.’

But he only smiled, ‘Not yet.’ “Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the teacup said, “and suddenly I was spun around and around and around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting dizzy’ I screamed.

But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’ “Then he put me in the oven. I’d never felt such heat! I wondered why he wanted to burn me. I yelled! I knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, ‘Not yet.’

“Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf and I began to cool.

There, that’s better,’ I said.

Then he brushed me and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ I cried.

He only nodded, ‘Not yet.’

“Then suddenly he put me back into the oven not like the first one. This one was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head, saying, ‘Not yet.’

“Then I knew there wasn’t any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.

One hour later, he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself,’ and I did, and I said, ‘That’s not me, that couldn’t be me, it’s beautiful. ‘I’m beautiful!”

‘I want you to remember then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurt to be rolled and patted, but if I just left you, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad and when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened.

You would not have had any color in your life, and if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.

Now you are a finished product.

“Don’t stay locked in your past. Don’t keep focusing on yesterday with its heartaches and problems. It’s not important how many people have disappointed you, failed you, and done you wrong. The crucial issue now is not what they did, but what God has done…and what He’s going to do. Go forward. Keep believing. Keep moving!” — Andrew Merritt

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down, just a little, when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and WHUMP!– it smashed into the Jag’s black side door! SCREECH…!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car.

He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?” Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new Jag. That brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?” “Please, mister, please… I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!” Pleaded the youngster, ” I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the young Executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE – a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his
Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.

Some bricks are softer than others. Be prepared for the bricks life may throw at you.