Our Park Mission volunteer team has been doing a fantastic job sprucing up our property! They’ve begun sending out monthly newsletters and we wanted to share them! You can find their third one here!

Here’s just a snippet:

A Teaching Parable: The Cracked Pot

Author: Unknown

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of  water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the main house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to the main house. 

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it  perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream, "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" 

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load  because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to the main house.  Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the main house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the  sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the  bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate our employer's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength in the Lord.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

Thank you very MULCH to Logan Porter for the playground mulch. His guys came and went so fast, I got tired just watching them. Whew! They covered about 2/3 of the playground, and plan to do the rest once we lay down a couple inches of base mulch from the Farm.”

-Mack Arrington, Park Mission Team