What is your favorite color?

 

“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."

- Robert Fulghum

The weather here in Colorado sure has been wet lately... it seems like every afternoon a thunderstorm has rolled in. It’s during those times I think of my childhood and one of my favorite rainy day activities. I long for a brand new box of color crayons (preferably the BIG BOX of 64) and a fresh, new coloring book. I remember looking through the book and picking out my favorite picture. Then I would carefully choose my favorite colors and line them all up to begin making my page come to life. I would get lost for hours in blending the colors, outlining my designs, coloring the background and even adding my own person touch. But the picture was never complete until I had signed my name at the bottom.

As I reminisce about those rainy days, I compared my favorite activity and those sticks of wax (crayons) to being a Christan:

1. Crayons are made on an assembly line but individually molded and labeled with their own unique paper. Then they are placed in a box where they reside with a variety of other unique, individually created colors.

2. To continue to be useful, a crayon can’t stay perfect and sharp (unused). It has to become worn, sometimes the outer wrapper needs to be peeled down, others times it gets broken but still can be used for awesome shading, and other times (especially if it's your favorite color) it gets used up.

3. Combining colors can create a brand new color (ie. red + yellow = orange) or can be used side by side to make a beautiful rainbow.

4. Whether you color inside the lines, on the lines, or all around the outside of the lines, each page which started out as black and white comes alive in its own unique way!

Can you see the similarities?

As Christians we are meant to love and encourage one another, to be in relationship with one another and to live in peace together. The poem below is a perfect reminder that NO CHRISTIAN IS MEANT TO BE AN ISLAND.

Just A Box Of Crayons

- written by Shane DeRolf

While walking in a toy store

The day before today,

I over heard a Crayon Box

With many things to say.

“I don’t like red!” said Yellow.

And Green said, “Nor do I!”

And no one here likes Orange,

But no one knows quite why.

“We are a box of crayons

that really doesn’t get along,”

Said Blue to all the others.

“Something here is wrong!”

Well, I bought that box of crayons

And took it home with me

And laid out all the crayons

So the crayons could all see

They watched me as I colored

With Red and Blue and Green

And Black and White and Orange

And every color in between

They watched as Green became the grass

And Blue became the sky.

The Yellow sun was shining bright

On White clouds drifting by.

Colors changing as they touched,

Becoming something new.

They watched me as I colored.

They watched till I was through.

And when I’d finally finished,

I began to walk away.

And as I did the Crayon box

Had something more to say……..

“I do like Red! ” said the Yellow

And Green said, “So do I !”

And Blue you are terrific!

“So high up in the sky.”

“We are a Box of Crayons

Each of us unique,

But when we get together

The picture is complete”

Crayola Trivia: In 1902 Crayola introduced its crayons not with one box, but with a full product line. By 1905, the line had expanded to offering 18 different-sized crayon boxes with five different-sized crayons, only two of which survive today - the "standard size" and the "large size.” The product line offered boxes containing 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, or 30 different color crayons. Some of these boxes were targeted for artists and contained crayons with no wrappers, while others had a color number printed on the wrapper that corresponded to a number on a list of color names printed inside the box lid, but some boxes contained crayons with their color names printed on their wrappers. As the size of Crayola crayon packs increased, the variety of colors available has also increased — reaching 120 colors by 1998.

Colors of Faith  - author unknown

Red is for love and service to others,
treating all people as sisters and brothers.

Yellow represents the value of hope,

helping you hold out, hang on and copy.

Green is for trusting that God’s always there

listening, answering every prayer.

Orange is for following Christ every day,

with the light of your faith leading the way.

Blue is for joy and the peace you’ll receive,
when you open your heart and choose to believe!

Have you ever wanted to color an object a certain color, but someone else was using that color. So, you use another color as a substitute and your picture came out even better than you could have imagined. Sometimes in life, we don’t have all of the colors we want, but we always have the colors we need. I pray that we will all color our lives in such way, with whatever colors are available to us, that the finished picture brings glory and honor to Christ.

Have a colorful, imaginative, and creative week...
God’s Peace, Donna Weaver

“Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world.

Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will

always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture

by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.”

- Allen Klein

For more Crayola trivia checkout : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayola