The Christmas Bells

Every year-- for the past eighteen years-- I've gotten a Christmas bell from a local potter. They're all different. Each is unique and every year there's a new design on them. Sadly,last year the shelf with my bells was knocked off the wall. Only two of them cracked and that was a miracle. While my bells can be glued back together, so they look pretty, there's nothing I can do that will make them ring again.

As I pondered the accident, a thought grew. Each one of us is like a bell, with our own voice. Sometimes we might sit on a shelf, other times we ring clearly--and sometimes we might get damaged, perhaps we've "glued ourselves back together" so our damage isn't apparent. But we have more than glue. We have a Master Potter who can mold us and shape us. And if we get cracked and broken, we can ring again.

That is the beauty of inspirational fiction, we can tell the story of broken souls and how they're mended by the Potter's loving hands.

May God richly bless each of you during this Christmas season!