Lily Swanson

I think God’s taught me a lot about myself, through pottery and through making. It is like when we are the clay and God is the potter.

When we are the potter then the clay has to come under our control, weas the potter has to be in control of it. The clay has to yield to us just as us we as the clay has to yield to God as the potter. We have to surrender to the pushing and the pulling while he shapes us. But if we are fighting that then it doesn’t work. And sometimes the clay does feel like it’s fighting you.

So I think God’s taught me a lot through the process. Just the fact that it goes through heat, and through pressure, it’s like a clump of mud but then like we can turn it into something beautiful and functional. Which is really cool.

Just the fact that it’s litreally a clump of mud and it’s dirty. But we can turn it not only as something beautiful but as something functional.
There’s also a lot of beauty in the imperfections as well, which I love. Actually lately I’ve been working on loosening up a bit more , having fun and embracing the imperfections and doing that purposely. I want my pots to have personality and character.

I've made a lot of unlikely friendships through this and it’s really cool. I’ve seen it as my ministry. I’ve had heaps of conversations about the Lord through this arts community. To be honest, I can totally see how many doors God has opened for me.
God has surprised me.
It’s something I’ve been battling with in a while. That, like, surely it’s too good to be true? I love pottery. I love art. And God has been opening all these doors.
So it’s been a journey of God being like
“I have given you these gifting and passion, and now that I have a given you all these things be a witness to Jesus in that space."