Cracked Pots

When I think of potting plants, I immediately think of using terra cotta pots. With all the plastic containers, glazed pottery, and baskets available for plants, I’m still drawn to the brownish-orange clay pots.

I especially love aged clay pots—the ones in which moss has begun to grow over the surface. Such character this lends to the container as well as color and soft texture.

New or old, these are my favorite. The only problem is they have a tendency to break easily. Many a spring I’ve sorted through containers to find broken clay pots nestled among the new and not so new. I also find them around the house, cracked but with the soil and sometimes even the plant, captured inside.

Since it’s so difficult for a gardener to throw anything away, I’ve found a couple of uses for the broken pieces of earthen vessels:

  • use small pieces in the bottom of a larger container to provide drainage
  • place the container on the ground – broken side down – and place a plant in the ground giving the illusion of a plant growing out of the container
  • Take larger pieces of the pot and place strategically in the flower bed to add interest

I’d like to think I’ve aged with grace and have a soft layer of beautiful moss that adds character, but I feel more like a cracked pot. In the pile of old and new, useful and aged pots, I show up as broken pieces of an earthen vessel. But I’ve realized that I’m under the care of a loving Gardener and He too finds it difficult to throw anything away!

Under His care, He takes my brokenness and makes it useful for His Kingdom and His Glory. I may not be the most magnificent pot in the pile, but God still loves me and has a purpose for me. AND . . . He has one for you too.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”  (Psa. 147:3 NKJV).

 

photo courtesy of photobucket.com

Beth Fortune

Beth has a passion for God's Word. Through her writing and speaking she allows the heartbeat of the Father to flow through her words. As an award-winning writer she’s a contributing writer with Christian Devotions and has had stories published in two "Chicken Soup For the Soul Book" Series in addition to other anthologies. Some of her articles have been published in Focus on Family’s "Thriving Family" magazine and Dr. Charles Stanley’s "In Touch" magazine. With a degree in Ornamental Horticulture she loves gardening and enjoys giving gardening talks to churches, schools, and community groups but her real enjoyment comes from sharing God's truths and encouraging others. She and her husband live in Mauldin, SC where they are in a season of caregiving for her father-in-law in the home. A diffiult season, but one in which God continues to show His grace. You can visit her at www.bethfortune.net.

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One comment

  1. Nicely said, Beth!I don’t like clay pots because they tend to break – easily. But I sincerely hope that attitude doesn’t hold true for my feelings toward people, because we’re all broken and cracked. Some more than others, perhaps, yet this also demonstrates God’s outlook that all sin is equal. There is no *small* sin, just as a crack or chip blemishes the clay pot no matter how *small* – and even tiny cracks can leak water, taking nutrients and nourishment away from the plants. Wow, you’ve really sparked the spiritual bit of my brain this morning! Thank you!

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