Skip to main content

The Teacup Story

Why is it that the phrase "when it rains, it pours" is just so completely accurate? It seems like every time one thing goes wrong, then EVERYthing else suddenly has to fall apart too! At times like this it's common to wonder things like, "What did I do to deserve this?" or even, "Why would God let this happen to me?" Because sometimes in the moment it's impossible to understand what good could possibly come from such negative, unsuitable circumstances. I came across a moving and uplifting story online at A Day in Candi Land that touches on this thought in a clever way and I thought that I simply must share it! If you are struggling with difficulties of your own, I hope that this story will bring some encouragement to you. Also, consider sharing it with guests at your own tea party. There are printable versions available on Candi's website.

The Teacup Story
There was a couple that used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. One day in a beautiful shop they saw an exquisite teacup. They asked the clerk, “May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so lovely.”
As the lady handed it to them, 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 and said, ‘Not yet.’ Then I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun 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 never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and 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 a shelf, and I began to cool. ‘There that’s better’, I said. And he brushed 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 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 a shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. 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 hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, 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 knew it hurt and 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 when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you."
Jeremiah 18:6b  “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in [the Lord's] hand.”
Elm, Candi. "The Teacup Story." A Day in Candi Land. Tasteful Theme by Restored 316, 23 August 2013. Web. 28 August 2017.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spooky Tea Party

  My latest tea party was frightfully delightful! I asked my friends if there was a theme they would like for my next tea party and they chose 'spooky'. Since it was still summer at the time, I was careful to not include specifically Halloween/fall time details such as pumpkins. Another one of my goals was to make this event feel eerie and dark, while still maintaining a tea party-esque atmosphere, adding touches of elegance amongst the gore! I set the table with these cut-out sugar cookies that are made to look like decapitated people. (Yikes, maybe I should have put a trigger warning at the top of this post?) I used a Christmas gingerbread man cookie cutter, sliced off the heads before baking, and then added some red icing after they cooled to look like blood. For the second dessert idea, I made red velvet cupcakes and decorated them with dyed pink buttercream frosting to look like brains! My favorite of all the food I served were the "finger sandwiches"! (Get it? S...
4 comments
Read more

Sips by

I was so excited last Christmas when my aunt surprised me with a year long subscription to Sips by ! It's an amazing company that puts together boxes of teas to send directly to your home, personalized with your taste in mind. Since I had such a great experience, I thought I'd share some of the information in case anyone is looking for clever gift ideas for the tea lovers in their lives! When I started it at the end of last year, I was prompted to fill out a little questionnaire on their website so that they could get a sense of the types of teas I like and dislike. They used that information to help determine what to include in my boxes. I was pretty open minded when answering the questions, so I ended up with a wide variety of options. That is exactly what I wanted because it gave me the chance to try teas that I might not have normally purchased myself! Below is a glimpse of what the boxes and their contents look like: Each box came with 4 different kinds of teas to enjoy an...
1 comment
Read more

Murder Mystery Tea Party

I have always wanted to do a murder mystery themed tea party because I thought it might be interesting to combine elegance with just a touch of horror! So this week I finally went ahead and organized one! Special thank you to my mom and dad for helping me with the story line and other details! And thank you also to my grandma, sisters, and the D'Angelo family for attending and participating! For this event I kept the menu relatively basic by preparing simple finger sandwiches (egg salad as well as cucumber) and a fruit tart. To add to the theme, I iced some sugar cookies with black question marks. My mom used the same black icing to draw the outline of a body on top of the cake, but added some colorful flowers to balance out the gruesomeness. ;) The setting was a high school reunion! In attendance was a tough-girl bully, perky ex-cheerleader, glitzy celebrity, exhausted mother, successful business woman, cafeteria lunch lady, and drunken teacher. Each of these party ...
2 comments
Read more