The Potter's Hand

Use me, Fill me

I give my life to the Potter's hands

Hold me, Guide me

Lead me, Walk beside me

I give my life to the Potter's hand

On March 7, 2004, I attended a Sunday evening service at Christian Life Assembly… I will never, ever forget that night. I was sitting beside Len & Jean Page… in the "old sanctuary." Pastor Bob Kapp shared a very short message before we entered an extended time of worship. As we sang those words above - take me, mold me, use me, fill me, I give myself to the Potter's hand - God began to whisper "are you ready to allow me to mold you into what I need you to be to accomplish my plan for your life?" 

Every good Pentecostal Christian girl knows that when God asks a question like that, you raise your hands in completed submission and proclaim "yes, Lord." And that is what I did without skipping a beat… without any hesitation. 

It wasn't long before I realized what a life changing prayer I had prayed. I was so naive. I had no idea that this molding process was going to suck and suck bad. 

Since 2004, every significant move of God in my life and ministry has begun with those words. 

Take me.

Mold me.

I give my life to the Potter's hand. 

Last spring, as I was walking through a challenging situation, God brought this song to my mind during my time alone with Him one Sunday morning. 

Tears streamed down my face as I heard Him whisper those all too familiar words "are you ready to allow me to mold you?" 

I was 15 years older and no longer so naive. I knew that if I agreed, it was going to be hard. But my answer was the same as it was in March of 2004.  Without reservation and knowing all too well that the molding process would, in fact, suck, I proclaimed, "yes, Lord." 

Spring 2019 did suck. But here's the thing . . . in just three short months, I faced things and learned lessons that would have taken several years to learn without that sucky situation. 

You see, when tough stuff comes, by circumstances beyond our control or even by our own doing, we get to choose to hold tight to control or raise our hands in submission.

I pray that I will always make that same choice. The choice to give my life to the Potter's Hand.

Are You Tired of Resetting?

It’s a new month. For me, like many of you, the start of a new month tends to represent fresh beginnings, new opportunities… a time to reset and refocus. 

But this month is a little different. No it’s a lot different. Our world is just not the same place it was a short month ago. COVID-19 has changed all that.

Truth be told, as leader of a youth nonprofit, the whole coronavirus thing started for me at the end of February. By the first week of March, not only was I planning for so many unknowns but I was also beginning to need to calm the fears of those around me. But it wasn't until March 16th that it changed my life. 

That was the day I became temporarily unemployed. My husband had been working from home for about a week at that point. My girls attend a cyber charter school so they’ve been at home all along. But all of a sudden, we had four people and a dog and four workstations (yes, I said four… this crazy driven person is not about to sit still while she is unemployed).

April 1. New Month. New Opportunities. Fresh Beginnings. Reset. Refocus. 

Been there. Done that. For 17 days. 17 freakin days. I'm no longer motivated to refocus and I've grown tired of resetting.

Our family sat down that very first day and we talked through what we all needed… not just to complete our tasks for school and work but more importantly, what we all needed to keep our sanity… what projects we wanted to do, what we would do for fun, how we wanted to utilize and not waste this time. We had a great plan.

Maybe your family is like mine. Maybe you sat down together and came up with a plan. Maybe you are making a plan week-to-week. Maybe you made a plan and it has changed six times already. And maybe, just maybe, you're like me, and at some point during the last several weeks you've questioned why you even bothered to plan or wondered if you can even achieve 1/10 of what you set out to achieve. 

No matter where you find yourself today, if you are wondering what to do with this new month… I’d like to make a few suggestions: 

#1 Lower your expectations. 

#2 Don’t compare your game plan to anyone else’s. 

#3 Be flexible. 

Here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if you’re working from home like my husband, essential personnel like my two sons or temporarily unemployed like me… this is tough. I message with people each day. Their emotions are all over the place, from anger to gratefulness, fear to hopefulness and optimism to sadness. These unprecedented times in our history are tough… physically and emotionally. To thrive, we are going to need to be kind to ourselves and those around us. We can’t expect to run at peak performance all the time, we have to understand that each of us need different things right now and we have to learn to roll with the day-to-day changes. 

So today, as you consider the new month and new opportunities, I want to encourage you to take a deep breath, take a walk or maybe just take a nap. As then as you reset for a new month, I want to encourage you to refocus your attention on grace and give yourself and everyone around you a little extra grace.

Lessons Learned from Forky

On my kitchen windowsill, above my sink, sit two figurines. Both purchased from the Dollar Tree. One came in a bag of one-hundred, yet I only have possession of one… and that was by accident. The other was purchased all by itself.

Both figurines sit on this kitchen windowsill… where I spend an insane amount of time washing dishes. 

They both sit there as reminders. Reminders of lessons learned. Or honestly, maybe they’re lessons I’m still learning. 

The little one inch army man… well, he represents a book that probably needs to be co-authored... so we'll save that story for another day.

But Forky... Forky is my absolute favorite Disney character. If you’re not familiar with him, Forky is a character in Pixar’s Toy Story 4. In the movie, released in 2019, Bonnie created Forky at her kindergarten orientation... out of a few craft supplies and a spork from a nearby wastebasket. Like many kindergarten students, in Bonnie’s eyes, her creation was a masterpiece. 

The dictionary defines the word masterpiece as a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship. To his creator, Forky was all of those things.

But Forky… well, he didn't think he was a masterpiece. In fact, he thought he was trash. Throughout the movie, Forky is seen attempting to climb into every wastebasket he sees. He fails to see his worth. He fails to see how incredibly valuable he is to the one that created him. 

Hmm… while I might not have arms made of pipe cleaners, googly eyes or a plastic head, I have a few things in common with Forky. I, too, fail to understand how valuable I am to my Creator. And just like Forky, I need to be reminded of my worth. 

God’s word tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that you and I… we are His masterpieces. We do not belong in the wastebasket of shame and guilt and fear. We belong safely in the hand of the One who created us… 

Forky sits on my windowsill as a daily reminder of that incredible truth.

The Pursuit of Peace

Yes, it was chilly outside this morning at 6 o'clock.

But chilly or not, the outdoors was calling my name so I threw on a sweatshirt and made my way to my favorite spot in my new home . . . the balcony. As I held a cup of hot coffee in my hands, I embraced the moments of quiet and listened to the distance sounds of the world waking up.

As I stood, the word that came to my mind was . . . peaceful. 

Peaceful. Peace. Those words have been coming to me a lot the last few weeks.

The pursuit of peace has been something that I have made a priority most of my adult life. Real peace . . . not the kind of temporary perceived peace that comes when you ignore problems, hide from conflict or refuse to confront situations and people that require confrontation. But true peace . . . the kind of peace that you can feel in your body, mind and spirit.

But full disclosure . . . over the last few years, I've allowed toxins to creep in all areas of my life and steal some of my peace.

You know, I said I wouldn’t do a “word of the year” this year after last year’s fiasco . . . but I also said I wouldn’t ever live in Steelton and here we are so . . .

Two words keep coming back to me the last three weeks since our move . . . peace and detox.

And as held my cup off coffee looking out over my back yard this morning, it occurred to me that those two words . . . these two words, well, they go hand in hand.

Here is the thing . . . as you and I rid our lives, relationships, bodies, minds and spirits of toxic things and replace them with positive things . . . a sense of peace will be present.

I don't know about you but I'm ready to get rid of the toxins and live a peaceful 2020! I'd love for you to join me!

Bold Celebrations

Celebrate. 

Celebrate was the word I chose for 2019. 

I made a list of every big and little holiday, adopted Lou, the Webb Zoo’s version of a Flat Stanley, purchased a journal scrapbook to capture each and every celebration with Lou and started celebrating. 

Then March happened. A challenging situation kicked my butt big time. Lou ended up tossed in a corner and for two months straight the only thing I could think of to put in my journal scrapbook was a big crap emoji. 

My year of celebration was over in just three short months. 

It became a year of rediscovering myself. It became a year of me realizing that I needed to be the same strong woman in a Christian organization that I was in the business world. It became a year of me finding my voice again… the voice that I had lost in church ministry. It became a year of me promising myself that I would never shrink to make others feel good again. And it became a year of bold moves. 

This evening, as I reflect on the last twelve months, I can say without hesitation that it not only has been a year of bold moves, but it truly has been a year worthy of celebration. Each and every moment of this year - the good and the not-so-good - are all worthy of celebration because each of those moments played a part in my personal growth and accomplishments over the last year. 

Celebrate. Bold. Both incredible words that describe my 2019.

What word describes your 2019?

Are You Coachable?

Today I saw a quote that circulates on Facebook every now and then. Maybe you've seen it.

It goes like this:

UNCOACHABLE KIDS BECOME UNEMPLOYABLE ADULTS. 

While that sounds great in theory, I'm not 100% sure that it's accurate. I mean, I think that we've all worked with a few uncoachable adults . . . so obviously, they can get a job . . . they just make the rest of us miserable.

Someone told me once that "it is very difficult having a coach for a mom." Now that . . . that I have to agree with and I have to own it. And my kids would probably give that statement a resounding amen.

But here is the thing, one of the greatest compliments I've received about one of my kids is that they are coachable . . . and I have heard that about each of them.

Now listen, my kids ARE coachable . . . you don't grow up with a coach for a mother and survive without learning to be coachable. Our entire parenting approach is more coaching than anything else.

At 18 years old, Ken Levine, who is an owner/operator for McDonald's said something to me that totally rocked my 18 year old self. He said, "Sherry, the crew and other managers will copy what you do wrong almost 100% of the time and they will do it twice as well. On the other hand, they will only copy what you do right 50% of the time and they will do that only half as well." 

That stuck.

It not only stuck but it put even more pressure on a young adult with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. Thanks Ken. Thanks a lot.

But here is the thing . . . it didn't just stick and put pressure on me. It became a core value in my life. I determined to be the best version of me . . . way before "being the best version of yourself" was the cool saying it is today. There was no way I wanted to be responsible for anyone doing what I did wrong twice as well.

Before I go any further . . . Do. Not. Start. With. Me. At 50 years old, I know damn well that back then, I took it to an unhealthy place and I know damn well that I am not responsible for the choices other people make.

But here is the point, I made a full-on commitment to continued professional and personal growth because I wanted to be a healthy (not perfect!) example of a parent, a spouse, a leader and a friend.

As I began to surround myself with individuals I could learn from, I had to learn that no one can coach you in all areas of your life . . .

I have a fundraising coach that I hired and at first paid for out of my own pocket . . . while I was a volunteer Executive Director. Yes, I paid for my own professional development as a volunteer. I have a spiritual dad that is only a phone call away. I have a friend that is a business owner and has served on several nonprofit boards . . . we meet for lunch from time to time. We eat sushi and I pick his brain.

I know someone that has worked in nonprofits most of his adult life. I talk to him probably only once a year. Each time he kicks my butt, accepts no excuses from me but at the same time, he always reminds me that I have the skill set to be successful. I have a close friend that works in law enforcement and when I want blunt, nothing held back, advice . . . I call him.

Listen, I won't ask my fundraising coach to guide me spiritually. I won't ask my once-a-year-call coach for advice on parenting. I won't seek out my spiritual dad when I need to brainstorm new fundraising ideas. I'm not going to ask my police chief friend for advice on leading a devotional. And I'm not going to ask my business owner friend for advice on security at my nonprofit.

But I have chosen to be coachable and each of these men wear a coach hat in my life. Each of these men make me better.

Who is wearing a coach hat in your life? What example are you setting to your kids? Do they see a coachable parent . . . or one that thinks they don't need to be coached?

Coachable adults raise coachable kids. Period.

What the . . .

Do you ever have those "what the . . . ?" weeks? You know what I mean? Those weeks that everything is crazy, nothing is going right, and you just shake your head when what you really want to do is shake a few people and scream "What are you thinking? What the hell is wrong with you??" 

It's been one of those weeks but I haven't shaken anyone . . . not even the roofer, so we're good.

On Monday, as I was standing in the rain with three kids and a freakin dog . . . three kids and a dog that I had just raced out of the house with after being given a 30 minute notice to tidy my house and get out for a showing, I thought this is as bad as this week will be. I mean, I was thinking . . . seriously, if this is the worse thing that happens this week then it's gonna be an amazing week. I gave myself a big pep talked and rocked on.

Then Tuesday happened . . well, Tuesday was worse than Monday.

Then today . . .

Today was a doctor's appt. Not just a doctor's appt. A girl doctor's appt. Fun times.

Ten years ago, after a year and a half of being shuffled from doctor to doctor while in severe pain, a Hershey Med doctor quickly diagnosed my issue, performed surgery and gave me back my quality of life. So while my current Primary Provider is a UPMC Pinnacle doctor, I see the specialists at Hershey.

Now Hershey Med is a training hospital. So I know that it is not uncommon for students to be in the exam or operating room or "practicing" on you. Today, my nurse says, "Your doctor will be right in and she does have a student with her today." Okay. No. Big. Deal.

Then I hear this quiet but masculine voice, "Miss Webb, can I come in?" In walks this super adorable kid about the age of my sons. He begins to ask me questions . . . it's awkward . . . although he tries so hard to make it not awkward . . . which honestly made it more awkward. He asks me a few questions and tries to show his knowledge while I'm thinking "oh hunny, no that's not the way that works." He gets ready to leave the room and tells me he will be back with my doctor.

This gives me time to text my friend . . . who somehow finds my traumatic situation quite comical. I've got the emojis to prove it.

The doctor takes her time with the student to give him a good experience without traumatizing me too much. Listen, I'm still not over the student that could not put in my IV . . . and had to be stopped by my mild-mannered bestie, before I passed out. That student probably decided not to be a doctor after an interaction like that.

But today the student survived . . . and I survived . . . and I was reminded of two very important life lessons . . .

#1 The week can always get worse . . . always.

#2 You've got to be able to laugh at your life and at yourself. Really, you do. You can find the humor in almost any sucky day or awkward situation. When you learn to laugh at yourself, you've learned a total game changer. Don't take yourself or your life too seriously. Just laugh.

Now if you're like me and sometimes you struggle to laugh when everything is going wrong, I'll introduce you to my friend. She laugh at you  . . . I mean for you. ;)