ETM working with Clay

On Tuesday, February 17 our group met once again. This night our topic was more practical in nature. Working with Clay.

We began our night with a short game of WHACK. Always fun. Always painful. : )

Then it was downstairs to a room readied for the group. Each person received 1 block of molding clay and some water to work with. Their instructions were to take that block of clay and create a "creature."

Rosalynn doesn't seem to be enjoying the feel of the clay in her hands.

Sam does.

Here is the group hard at work. Some had a harder time using the creative sides of their brains.

Others didn't. Here is a unique creation.

A very cool one.

This one looked more like a Bonsai tree to me. Once the creatures were created, the group was to give it a name and then tell everyone else what their creature was, and why they named it such. Some interesting things came out, I can assure you! : ) The reason we did this exercise was to practically illustrate the fact that just as they created something out of clay (basically dirt and water), so too were we created out of a clay mixture (the ground - See Genesis 2: 4 - 8) and that God shapes and molds us (Isaiah 64: 8) Some of the questions that were asked of the group then were: 1. So, since we are made out of such ordinary material, why are we so special to God? 2. We are all made of the same stuff, but we are all unique. How should that affect the way you treat other people? 3. What do you see when you look at all the different creatures here? A. They are all made the way YOU wanted them to look. God has done that with you and me as well. No two of us are the same (good thing). 4. What else do you notice about your creature? A. It's not perfect, or even finished yet. We are far from perfect, though God sees us through the eyes of Jesus, which allows us to be seen as holy in His eyes. God isn't finished with us. We are all on a journey and each journey is different. If we love Jesus the end destination is the same. 5. What else to you notice about your creature? A. Your fingerprints are all over it. God's fingerprints are all over your life. Do you see them? Do you know what they are? The group was then given 4 minutes to either finish their creature, or change it. They were then asked what they changed, and why they changed it. Point to ponder: God is working on our lives constantly and we change in the process into the end result of what God wants us to look like. Sometimes it hurts, other times it's glorious. I encouraged them to take their Creatures home as a reminder of how God created them unique and is still working on them. Some did, others didn't. For those that did, I hope you remember that God isn't finished with you yet and that you are unique, just like your creature.

We ended the evening with food, of course!!!!!

Oh, and this little picture comes off the camera of Peter. So few are taken of me (good thing), but he went through so much effort to get this one to me from his cell phone that I just HAD to put it in the blog somewhere. Sorry about that!!!! : ) TTFN.