Christian Living
It doesn't matter how many crayons are in the box, its what you do with the colors that counts.'
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I was in a local discount department store the other day when I happened across a small boy with his Dad. They were in the school supplies aisle and were looking to buy some crayons.
“Dad, which ones are the best?”
“Well, son, that depends on what you want them for”.
“Dad….How about this one….it has hot pink and green and orange….”
“Well, that might be a good choice. How many are in the box?”
“It says “16 crayons”, Dad. Is that enough?
“Well, what do you think….you know, after you use them, they will become worn down, some will break and some might get lost….”
“Well, I could get this big box of “64”! It even has a sharpener with it! Do we have enough for that one?”
“Yes, we can get that one, it will give you lots of choices for your art. You can color things whatever you want – green sky, orange grass, gold trees…you can use the sharpener to put a new end on them so that you can stay in the lines….”
At that point, I continued to the aisle I was looking for, so I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. It did get me thinking, though, about when I got my first box of “64” crayons. I was 8. A lot of my friends already had a box of 64 crayons…you know the one….with the sharpener and the gold, silver and copper crayons? I got some money for my birthday and my Dad took me to the local five-and-dime store. I knew what I wanted. And I knew exactly where it was in the store. When I showed him, he said “are you sure that’s what you want? You can get almost anything here… I answered that I had been wanting these for a long time, and besides, look at how pretty they were with their sharp points, neat rows of colors all organized together….I could make ANYTHING with these! So I bought them and we went home. I remember the smell of those new crayons and it took me no time at all to begin drawing my picture….blue sky, green grass, red flowers….for several days, I happily created picture after picture, which My mom gladly hung on every available surface in her Kitchen….
After a while, though, I got busy with other things, and used them less often. And when I did, they didn’t seem to have the same luster as when they were new. Some were broken, some were lost, some had no wrapper left…and they were rather crazily placed in the box…not in their nice neat rows like when I bought them. They just didn’t seem as valuable to me.
Time went on and I grew up…got married, had children, lived LIFE. It has been good, and bad, and happy, and sad, and filled with a wonderful variety of textures and colors in the form of people, places and events. Some overlap one another and have colored my perception of things. Some have darkened my days for a while and many have brightened my life.
In the midst of these thoughts, God spoke to me….He does that sometimes…and I realized that all of the pieces of my life, good and bad….new….old…broken…intact…all of these pieces have filled my life with a wonderful array of color. AND I can take those colors and savor them….even when all mixed up….and still have a beautiful picture… It’s simply what you DO with the colors that counts… and if we’re letting God paint the picture…it will always blend and define us…so that hopefully, we can see ourselves the way He does! In beautiful, living color!
c 2004 Charmaine Newton
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Charmain, what a delightful message. I loved the way you started it and the flow on to your memories. The connection with life was very good. With love, Deb
This reminds me of something God said to me years ago. I was reading the bit in John that says Jesus came to give us fullness of life. Fullness of life is everything that happens - the good, the bad and the ugly. All of them are part of the fullness of life. Much as I suspect most of us would like to avoid the difficult days - they add colour and dimension to our lives.
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