Kylie pondered the blank page that lay on the desk in front of her. Yesterday, the teacher had given the class an assignment to ask all of their family members what their favorite color was. She learned that her sister's favorite color was yellow and that her Mom preferred red. Kylie also called her Dad at his apartment the night before and discovered that his favorite color was orange. Her own favorite color had always been blue.
The assignment today was to paint a water color picture of her family. Each family member was to be painted their favorite color. Kylie picked up the paint brush, dipped it in the water and started with the color yellow, then she moved on to blue, then red and finally orange. She painted her heart out knowing that her Mom would put the picture on the fridge when she brought it home. She managed to put the final brush stroke on the page just as the bell rang ending the school day.
She hoped her Mom would like the picture and that it would put a smile on her face. She hadn't been able to spend much time with her Mom since her sister got sick. Mom spent a lot of time at the hospital these days and was always tired and worrisome when she came home. She wished her Dad was there to help Mom take care of her and Amanda but Mom had made Dad move out. The stress of the mounting medical bills and the sadness over her sister's illness made her parents fight too much and her Mom didn't think it was healthy for her and her sister. Kylie missed her Dad and she missed the days when her family was happy.
She hoped her Mom would like the picture and that it would put a smile on her face. She hadn't been able to spend much time with her Mom since her sister got sick. Mom spent a lot of time at the hospital these days and was always tired and worrisome when she came home. She wished her Dad was there to help Mom take care of her and Amanda but Mom had made Dad move out. The stress of the mounting medical bills and the sadness over her sister's illness made her parents fight too much and her Mom didn't think it was healthy for her and her sister. Kylie missed her Dad and she missed the days when her family was happy. Once the doctors let Amanda come home from the hospital she never really regained her strength. Amanda had to spend most of the day in bed, so Kylie would spend her afternoons in Amanda's room. She would sing silly songs and dance for her sister. They would read books together and watch TV. Amanda would help Kylie with her homework and Kylie enjoyed the time she spent with her sister. It was her favorite time of the day.
The watercolor painting graced the fridge for many weeks. One day Mom came into the kitchen and saw Kylie standing in front of the refrigerator.
"What are you looking at honey?" Mom asked.
Kylie replied. "Is it OK to change your favorite color?"
"Why, sure it is. What would you like your new favorite color to be?"
Kylie lifted her tiny hand to point to the exact spot that her blue hand was holding Amanda's yellow hand in the picture. The colors had mingled there. "My new favorite color is green! Because yellow and blue makes green!"
Mom held her hand to her mouth and was silent for a moment, then she carefully took the picture down and handed it to Kylie. "I think your sister would love to hear about your new favorite color." Kylie skipped to Amanda's room, picture in hand and disappeared from view.
One morning as Kylie rose and dressed for school, she heard her Dad's voice in the kitchen. She popped her head through the neck of her sweater and bounced down the stairs as fast as a 6 year old could muster. She ran into the kitchen and plopped onto her Daddy's lap and looked up into his face. Daddy hugged her and kissed her forehead, but didn't seem happy to see her. Kylie looked at her Mom and she looked tired and sad. "What's wrong Mommy?" Kylie asked. Her parents tried to explain that Jesus would be taking Amanda to heaven soon and that Daddy will be moving back home just until Amanda went to be with Jesus.
A week later, Amanda was gone. Kylie had cried as if her heart would break when they told her that Amanda had gone to be with Jesus. A week after the funeral, Mom once again walked into the kitchen to find Kylie staring at the watercolor painting on the fridge. She gently told Kylie that it was OK to keep green as her favorite color. Kylie replied. "I know Mommy, but I'm looking forward to making purple my favorite color." And with this Kylie turned and started to head out the door to the school bus.
Mom looked at the painting and saw the color purple clearly where the paint from her red hand mingled with Kylie's blue hand. "Purple is a very fine color indeed Kylie. I like it very much."
Kylie turned with a smile and said "Not as fine as brown Mom! When I was done paintin' the picture, the water was brown cuz it had all our favorite colors in it. Brown is the best color of all. I 'specially think Daddy would change his favorite color to brown if you would let 'im Mommy."
As Kylie closed the door behind her, Mom dropped to her knees, poured her heart out to God and asked Him to heal her heart, heal her family, give her the strength to pick up the pieces of her life ...and help her to see that brown was the color of love.
Until next time my friend,
Strength and honor in Christ
