By Melissa McLaughlin
Lord, make me a paperclip for You
Not glamorous, not noticed, but oh, so useful
Let me hold people together with my small strength
Let me be bent into new shapes…
So I can unlock doors in lives where the keys are now lost;
So I can be the hook on the end of a string dangling from the classroom ceiling
securing a child’s prized tissue-paper butterfly in my gentle grasp
at just the right height for little eyes to see;
So I can be the bookmark
in a great unfinished story with surprises, twists and turns
showing the reader where to begin again;
So I can be something
yet to be imagined
yet to be made
yet to be molded
Nothing but a common paperclip
Waiting to be used and used and used again
In the hands of the Great Re-Maker
Additional Resources
The Potter’s Hands – Poem by Melissa McLaughlin
Alive and Breathing – Poem and Prayer By Melissa McLaughlin
Beautiful imagery! I am looking forward to more from your blog.
Dear Jennifer, thank you for the encouragement! I look forward to reading your posts, too! Blessings, Missy
This is wonderful!
Thank you, Ginny! I’m just getting started as you can see! So, your kind words go a long way. I’m looking forward to reading your writing, too! Blessings, Missy
What a creative idea! Yes! We shouldn’t aim to be glamorous and flashy. We should aim to be useful to the Lord. I loved it.
Thank you for the thoughtful comments! I pray my little words will lead others to The Word. It truly is an amazing thing that the God of all creation would engage us in His heavenly plans. Looking forward to reading the creative words the Creator has given you! Blessings, Missy
Great word pictures!
May I willingly be bent into new shapes by my Maker, but not bent out of shape in protest to the pressure He applies to mold me.
Thank you for the kind words. I’m just learning the blog ropes and still feel a bit wobbly. I love your word extension of not being bent out of shape in protest! Perfectly said. God bless you!
Thanks, and you too! 😊
I love this!! Being a “paper clip” is a profound gift! 💜💜
Thank you! And I thank God for His never-ending gifts and ways of stretching us to be a gift! Blessings to you!
What insight! I would not have thought of the humble paperclip in this light but it’s true! I want this to be my prayer as well.
Thank you! And thank you, Lord, for every way You help me to stay in positions where I can be used by You! It’s not easy, because I often want to be what I want to be. But He has the greater good in mind. Lord, keep bending us!
Things I’ve never thought of!
The God who shaped the mountains, you wrote about, is still shaping you and me! And praise God for that!
Love this!
Aww, thank you, sister! May we be shaped and re-shaped into a gloriously useful tool, used for our Savior. May the Lord have His hand heavy upon you this day!