I remember so many walks through musty antique stores where my parents would peruse the many rooms full of tables and cabinets full of old stuff, just hoping to find a treasure. That was a good fifty plus years ago. One of the items they were always on the lookout for were these small copper luster pitchers, about the size of a cream pitcher. Mom or Pop would haggle a little with the store keeper and would end up paying anywhere from $12 to $40 for one of their treasured finds to add to the collection. The collection grew pretty large with maybe 30 or so pitchers that were always displayed either on the hutch or on a wall shelf. My parents were probably thinking that someday this collection would be worth a great deal of money. Fast forward to today. You can still find copper luster pitchers for sale in antique stores or on eBay or other websites. They are selling for $5 to $40 dollars each. Wait. What?
Everyone who had a copper luster pitcher thought they had something unique and rare. What changed it? I want to say it was eBay and the internet! Getting online made the world so much smaller and brought you in touch with others who had something the same.
Our firstborn daughter, Amanda, was born in 1983 with spina bifida. We were at the beginning of a huge 31 year journey that included far too many surgeries, doctors, therapies, and other challenges that come with a special needs child. At that time, the internet had not yet been born. The best support we had was the Spina Bifida Association that met at Children’s Hospital in Detroit ONE DAY A MONTH. If you couldn’t make a meeting, you missed meeting with other families of children with spina bifida for a span of 2 months. Relationships need to meet a lot more often than once a month to be productive!
Today, families with children who have spina bifida have countless ways to connect with others through the internet. There are so many support groups both local and world-wide. One simply has to do a quick search on their computer and can hook up with a local group, find friends, or even connect with someone across the ocean that might offer help and support with a common need. The world became smaller and you suddenly have those with similar needs and interests at your fingertips.
My point?
We are all like precious copper luster pitchers. It is no coincidence that the bible in Jeremiah 64:8 states: “ Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Each one of us was formed by God’s precious hand to be of a certain shape and design. But all too often I think people believe that they are the only ones with a certain grief, a specific illness, a particular situation, an individual challenge, or a unique trial to face. Case in point, when our sweet Amanda went home to Jesus in 2014, I felt like no one could understand my grief at losing a child. But it wasn’t a week later that a co-worker shared with me that he had lost his own daughter just a few years prior and knew the grief I was feeling at losing a child. I hadn’t known about his loss because he never told me his story. I suddenly was not alone.
The main point?
We all have a story to tell. And your story has power. We may all be the same in that we are vessels of clay formed by our Father’s hand, but he made us each unique as well. We may be shaped differently, painted a different color, and even bear different chips and gouges from the paths we’ve journeyed. But it is our differences that bring us together. If we can share our griefs, our successes, our triumphs over challenges, and even the joys that life brings, how awesome is it that in sharing, we can soothe, encourage, inspire, comfort, cheer, or bring hope to another.
There may be evils associated with the misuse of the internet, but I see it as the most incredible way to bring people together from all over the world that have the need to connect. Of course, connections can also be made every day with the people around you – simply tell your story or be a good listener and take time to hear theirs.
Tell your story.
Your story has power.
just Laurel
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
#Godthesameyesterdaytodayandtomorrow