Staying In The Lines

Staying in the Lines


Most all parents and grandparents proudly display the “art work” that the little ones bring home from church or school or day care on the refrigerator. Though I don’t have little ones who regularly bring me “art work”, I treasure what I get and I'm still guilty as charged of doing the same.

I love getting "art work" from little ones. My little buddy, Brendyn, loves to draw - and color - and cut - and paste. For a five year old, he is learning to "stay in the lines". The more he colors, the better he gets. He “practices daily”. He experiments with different colors, adding some blue with yellow and learning it makes a green color. He tells me of different "colors" or "paints" that he likes to use. He amazes me at how serious he takes his “art”

He comes from a line of artists - his grandmother and his uncle were proficient artists- but that doesn't make him an artist in his own right, yet. With practice, he will get there. Just as going to church doesn’t make us a Christian, Brendyn’s family background doesn’t make him an artist. He still, however, signs his name to each piece as if he were Rembrandt.

Our life is like a canvass. We can chose to have vibrant rich colors showing our life to be full and an adventure or we can chose the dull, drab colors which will show sadness and sorrow. We can paint our world as we chose. We are the artist. Jesus was an artist – a carpenter. I think that any form of working with your hands makes you an artist. The song says, “He is the potter, I am the clay…mold me and make me…”

Just like Brendyn, each day a Christian learns to “stay in the line”.

Life is a process of learning. We learn by education, by reading, studying God’s word and practicing what we’ve learned. We learn what God’s expectations are of us. We learn to “stay in the line” and we learn to let God mold us and make us what he wants us to be.

Perhaps we can learn from Brendyn, to "stay in the line" and keep our lives on track. We are never too old to learn to be better at life, to be better people, more caring, more understanding and more loving - and we can learn, even from a five year old. Pass a good one.. ya’ll.