Coloring Outside Lines

There is a pitter-patter of rain against my window and a low whistle of wind blowing through leafless tree limbs outside. My nose is cold and I'm wrapped in my African blanket sitting on my bed debating whether or not to go make a nice hot cup of tea or to just let my head hit the pillow and sleep until tomorrow.

Neither seem to be an appealing choice at the moment. So I think I'll just sit indian style on my bed with my shoulders draped with the warmth of Africa, on my shoulders, on my mind, and heavy on my heart.

My thoughts are a jumble and my words do not seem to be so eloquent. Phrases aren't forming in my mind and it seems that spelling has become an issue. I find it difficult to express myself with words spoken. I find that the written words are much more beautiful and much simpler for me to describe my heart. I think it's because I look around and I see God's scribbles on everything, and I feel like if I can just scribble even remotely close to Him than maybe, just maybe there will be beauty. 

But I tend to scribble a little too much and a little too off. I tend to scribble over God's scribbles instead of next to. Too often I tend to take the crayon from God's hand instead of asking Him to guide mine. I tend to think that if I color anywhere outside of the line, if my scribbles become wild and reckless than I've lost my path and somehow God's not going to be able to clean my picture back up. 

But God is pretty awesome. He takes my broken crayon from my hand, looks me in the eyes and tells me that He loves to color outside the lines. He loves to use the weak to shame the strong. He loves to heal the blind and the lame and the sick and save the poor. He loves the least of these. He loves the faith of the child. He loves the beauty in the simple things, especially when it's outside the lines.

For so long I thought that I had to stay inside these lines, but God doesn't have lines to stay inside. His coloring is all over creation. His handwriting covers states and countries and continents that I have yet to see. And it's beautiful. It's an amazing thing to think about. That our God has touched every single one of us, our homes, our families, our hearts. He has heard every single one of our prayers, our angry shouts, our praises. He is coloring our lives. Each a different shade. Each a beautiful shade. and Each one of us has our crayons too... I like the 64 pack... so many to choose from. And God hands me a crayon and says, "Color, my daughter, be my hands, be my feet. I'm sending you here to shine the light to share the shade of color I have given you. Go and color outside the lines." 

He calls me to go boldly toward my dreams to color with wild abandonment. To realize that He's gone ahead of me with His a-million pack of crayons and that He's taking care of everything, every color I think I don't have, He has. And every time my crayon gets dull, He hands me a new shade and I begin again. Coloring outside the lines and trying to follow His colorful, beautiful path. 

It's easy to lose track of the beauty God has placed in the world. And it's easy, especially now for me to just want to play it safe, to color inside the lines. But I can't do that and I don't want to do that. I want to color like crazy. To go outside the lines and beyond. To run wild and free. to care freely, to love deeply, to walk humbly and live justly. To show people who He is through me. That there would be so much more of Him and much much less of me. That the colors of my life would be His, blazing through like a rainbow after the clouds pass away and the water is no longer falling from the sky. 

He's teaching me to be different than what is expected. To color outside the lines. and I love it.

Coloring outside the lines,

HIS and yours,

Cami