being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
I just bought some new clothes with much urging from those who care. I had a strong impression they were trying to tell me something. Not saying that I’m necessarily very intuitive, but when I’m told to basically toss, burn, and bury a good number of clothes I owned, I got the “hint” a change was in order. I needed to start dressing like I wanted to be! I want to be bright and bold, so why would I go around being dull, dark, and weak?
This got me thinking about crayons…yeah I know…it scares you to attempt to follow my train of thought, but there you have it. Let me show you. Robert Fulghum said, “We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.” This is so true! You see, who doesn’t like crayons? Now you know what led me to my next thought…
Birthday banners! My hubby makes one for the boys each year their birthdays roll around. He draws a picture of something they were highly interested in during the past year and makes sure their new age and name are somewhere in the drawing. It’s always interesting to see what he comes up with. I’m so glad he can do that because if it were left to me, they’d be standing in front of it with their heads tilted trying to figure out what all the stick figures were supposed to mean.
This is where the crayons come in. My hubby colors using a whole spectrum of colors. Some are dull and some are bright, but they’re all necessary for a great, final picture. The ones that really put a smile to our faces though are the bright colors. They seem so cheerful and happy! Why wouldn’t we color ourselves with joyful, bright colors that’ll help us smile all day? It’ll help those looking at us not feel like they just walked into a funeral either because they see a vibrant life.
This leads me to my next point. I’ve watched those crayons break when my very own artist was working on those banners. That didn’t make them worthless and belonging in the trash because he could still use them. They still were able to color. There’s a quote from an unknown author that says, “Broken crayons still color.”
Guess what…I’m here to tell you broken people still have a purpose and reason for being on this earth. Don’t ever, ever think that you’re worthless and should be tossed away because you’re broken. You might be thinking that I couldn’t possibly understand what you’re going through, and maybe you’re right. It still doesn’t change the fact that God started something in you and isn’t finished yet. Do you really not want to see what the rest of the picture is going to look like?
I’m here to tell you that the banner being made for the birthday boy looks like a hot mess at times. I have no idea what’s going on and can’t possibly see how it’s going to turn into anything that makes sense…of value, but my hubby does. You see, he’s the artist, not me. Even when everyone around you can’t see the possibilities, that’s ok. They don’t need to for you to know that an artist is at work and isn’t finished yet. Don’t give up when He’s in the middle of a masterpiece.
