Anvil or Iron?

In my last post I mentioned being the anvil for my daughter. You may wonder what I meant by that. Here is the "Parable of the Blacksmith."

A blacksmith looks at a messy, unformed, lump of metal and sees great potential.

So into the fire it goes. He allows it to get very hot but does not allow it to melt nor be destroyed.

But instead he handles it carefully, lays it on an anvil, and pounds it with a heavy hammer.

The iron is pounded, and turned, and struck some more. Then into the cooling water it goes. And it rests. Then back into the fire again!

And so the process goes... over and over again... a cycle of heat and pain and stress followed by a time to be cooled and rest.

Until finally the Blacksmith says the work is done, and "It is good."

The messy lump of metal has become a work of art. Something of great use and beauty.

We are the iron. God (as you understand him, or the "universe" or "life") is the Blacksmith. There is a plan for us. We can choose to allow the Blacksmith to make something beautiful from our trials. We can become people of great use and beauty.

Even if we are not - or don't think we are - very attractive physically according to the current societal standards of beauty, we still can and do become beautiful.

We each are iron being shaped.

But at the same time....

Sometimes....

We are the anvil.

And sometimes....

We are the hammer.

And sometimes...

We start the fire ourselves.

I am an anvil for my daughter in her trials.

Sometimes she is an anvil for mine.

Same with my husband.

And sometimes we are called upon by the Blacksmith to be the hammer. Firm, but never wielded with malice or anger or hate. But simply there to help the Blacksmith drive home a point. To help each other "pull our heads out." (Or as some of my dearest friends call it, a "Cranial-anal-ectomy.")

As I home school my dear child, I have to remember that these are HER trials. I am only the anvil.

I must be there, and I must be strong for her. I must be unfaltering and never failing. I must be steady, especially when "steady" is all I've got. Keeping in mind, though, that Anvils are never cold. They are warmed by the heat of the iron being shaped. Warm, and ever ready to be of service to the iron. An invaluable tool in the Blacksmith's shop. Without an anvil, the iron could not be shaped. (Oh, I suppose the iron could be pounded into the dirt, but how then would it turn out?)

Yes, being the anvil is painful at times, but it's worth it.

To see who she is becoming is the best reward an anvil could ever have.