Treasures

Our refrigerator is once again the display case for precious art. Zandi and Karsyn frequently present us (usually Sweetie) with their most recent art treasure. Is that stuff really important? It is to me. I still have the art I presented to MY father when I was young. It sat on his desk most of his life and now sits on mine. Zandi was fascinated last week with some clay duck images David made about 25 years ago. They were on display in my church office for years and now are enshrined in Sweetie's Curio cabinet along with 100 year old quilts and oddities of lesser importance. Zandi wanted to take them home but Sweetie politely declined her request. I imagine she will get them one day, but that won't be soon. By then she will know why they are so important to us. More important than the expensive Hummel and antique collectibles that surround them. Honestly, is it real quality art? Only to Sweetie, me and apparently Zandi. (David is not old enough yet to see their true worth). Thinking of art projects it reminds me of one Daniel presented me. He was somewhere around 5 or 6 and had unusual small motor skills. As a toddler he could pick a live fly off the window nearly every time...a skill I lacked and respected. On day he presented me an Disney quality drawing. I'm thinking a child prodigy here...It was so good I asked ..... ok Doni, it was more like the Inquisition....if he had traced it. He assured me he had drawn it all by himself. It was to perfect and looked exactly like a picture we had in the house. I got terribly fixated on the question of Daniel Lying to me...which he was not...He just did not know what the word "tracing" meant. This is the short version of that episode. I suspect that if you scroll down to the comments Doni will have added something. She still reminds me of it from time to time...it was that bad! I don't have that picture. It had no significance (If you don't count paternal embarrassment). It was not an original, just a copy of a professional artist....and a very good hand drawn copy...IE traced very well. It was not unique or personal. Part of me wishes I had just praised the effort and let it go. I really hope Daniel doesn't remember it as well as Doni does and if he does remember I think by now he realizes I love him for just who he is, nothing more, nothing less. His value as my son stands alone with no of comparison to anyone else or anything else. I have four boys who are completely different in looks, personality and temperament and I love it. The only things they have in common is they have beautiful wives and incredible children. And they are all uniquely different....except for Ryker and Cooper who appear to have come out of the same mold so far. There definitely was no tracing going on with the family genes! All this comes to mind as I read this morning an Article from Wayne Jacobsen at lifestream.org. He mentions that as a child he loved to color by the numbers and noted that evidently God does not. God loves to color outside the lines, blend, shade, and do all the things a true master artist does. He values each of us as his unique priceless and untraceable children. When believers are expected to be nothing more than a tracing of someone else or to be just colored all the same to match all the rest, it destroys our true value in the body of Christ...not to God...he refuses to see us that way. Each believer is truly an original hand crafted child of God. Don't let others try to color or trace you. Live as a free expression of what God is doing in your life.