I decided to start this blog series because I check my mailbox at college roughly three times a day. And roughly three times a day my heart drops and shatters into a million little pieces. No one sends me letters anymore. And I understand. It’s easier to send a text, FB message, or snapchat. A lot faster too.

Letters take time though. And there is just something special about someone’s seconds being spent on you. 

Therefore, every Monday of January I am going to write a letter to you. A real letter. Because I think you are worth spending my seconds on.

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Dear you,

How has 2016 been treating you so far? I hope you’ve had a great start!

2016 has been genuinely good to me. I’m at home from college which means no more climbing up and down a lofted bed or bundling in 14 layers to walk to dinner. Hallelujah! Being home for a whole month definitely has it’s pluses, however, there are negatives too.

Since I don’t have classes to attend, homework to do, or tables to wait on, I feel a little lost. It’s strange going from seeing a cheerful roommate everyday to spending most of my days alone. As these days and nights blur together, I get stuck in the darkness of my thoughts. Maybe you’ve felt this way too.

• Who am I anyways?
• I’m not good at anything.
• No one actually likes me. 
• Why am I this way? 

These thoughts are so sharp. Like knifes, they pierce us right through the heart and leave jagged cracks behind. Darkness seeps between them and floods our hearts with hopelessness.

Oh friend, I know that feeling all too well. And it feels way worse than realizing you didn’t get a letter in the mail.

But how can we see through the darkness?

Imagine for a second that our hearts are jars of clay. We do not look the same, but we all are cracked: some a little, some a lot.

When the darkness covers your mind and the doubt creeps in your heart, listen to what God tells you. (Yay! You can insert your name in the blanks here).

“Can I not do with you, ______, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, _____.” Jeremiah 18:6

God made your heart. He’s hunched over the potters wheel with sweat on his forehead and a sparkle in his eye. He holds you close as he forms you in his hands. Every indent and curve he shapes with his fingertips is exactly where he wants it. He lifts you up to the light from the window and smiles at the masterpiece he’s making.

So let me ask you this,

I am so guilty of this. I can’t tell you how many times I have glared in the mirror  and thought, “Why did you shape me like this?” And I don’t know how many times I felt awkward in a group and wondered, “Why did you shape me like this?” 

But look back at the verse. God says it’s obvious why:

We are shaped the way we are not so we can be perfect, but so we can be used perfectly.

No one drinks coffee out of a flower vase; we drink out of mugs. We don’t eat mashed potatoes out of pots; we use them to cook. Some bowls are used for salad and others are used for ice cream.

What you are going to be used for, no one else can be.

Cracks and all! Because our cracks are the greatest way to let the light of Jesus shine through.

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

You were shaped to be used for a purpose–one that only you can fulfill. You might not know what the purpose is yet, but be patient. The Potter is still molding you. He is still molding me. And I think that most comforting thing about being molded is knowing that you are in His hands.

From one clay jar to another with love,

Molly

Song // Broken Vessels by Hillsong Worship