One day, the potter came by an open field. There he discovered the finest pure clay he had ever seen. He brought a large bagful with joy in his heart back to his workshop. Sitting at his wheel, he began to work with his hands after adding a few cupfuls of water to the clay. A few more spins on the wheel soon revealed the form of a high-quality jar. Excited by the result of his hard work, he decided to add a rainbow-colored glaze to finish off his masterpiece. Now, tested in fire, his work was completed. He then placed it on his shelf.

A few minutes later, his careless children came to the room to play a game of tag. The little boy got off balanced as he was chased by the little girl. The little boy bumped into the shelf, and the glazed clay jar came crashing down the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

The potter came into the room when he heard the sound of broken ceramic hitting the floor. He was dismayed at first but he just shook his head and motioned for the little girl and little boy to help him clean up the pieces.

"Don't worry," he told them as they cleaned up the mess together. "I am not angry with you, since I can always make another one more beautiful than the one you broke. I can even show you how." Afterwards, he took the little boy and little girl to the field to get more clay and then make another glazed clay jar in his workshop.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

When we make mistakes, things can come crashing down into a million pieces it seems. There are things that will never be the same again. But we can always build something new, something better in our lives. It only takes for us to realize that God leads us to help make amends and start anew again.