Coloring Outside the Lines (a re-post)

My 6 year old had a birthday last week. And as birthdays go, he got some great gifts. One of those great gifts was some really cool markers and coloring pages. The kids tore right in to them.

I noticed some of my children paying special attention to coloring within the lines. A lot of time and effort was put into making their page look just right. By the end of the night, their pages looked perfect but their numbers were few.

While some of my other children were filling the page with colors...with zero regard for the lines. Lines, ehh. Their pages were many. Many pages filled with many colors.

Both groups of kids had fun. Both were happy as could be. Both were equally satisfied with the work they had performed.

Here is the lesson I learned.

I spend a lot of my time worrying about staying in the lines. Correction. I spend a lot of my time wishing that I could stay in the lines. Wishing that my house were cleaner. That my life was more organized. That more of my time was my own.

But that isn't my life.

My life is not about staying in the lines. At least not at this point. Nope. Mine is to be filled with the colors of my family. Lots of colors. All over the place. Sometimes in the lines, but most of the time over, out and through them.

I learned from watching my little scribblers that I can be just as happy coloring outside the lines as I thought I would be if I were coloring within them. And when you do, ignore the lines a little, you can fill more pages with color.

Someday I will color within the lines and make my home as clean and as organized as can be, and I will have time to do it. But for now, I am filling my heart with the colors of my life, the scribbles of my children, the highs and lows of marriage, the trials that make me stronger, the demands of motherhood, all things that lead me outside the lines...to where my joy is. 

Oh the power of a scribble.