Now that Spring is fully upon us... so are its fresh color changes! I mean, not only is lots of stuff newly green, but surrounding our yard are various colors of flowers, with all sorts of butterflies regularly visiting them... not to mention the trees, which invite different varieties of spring birds, etc.

So I was especially interested in something I recently read with Abby (my little 9 year old daughter) in her Bible devotional book... (I was seriously impressed with how profound and meaningful its truth was, especially for a kids book – Keys for Kids, April 14, 2010.) I hope it encourages you as much as it did me!

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We know that ALL things work together for good to those who love God.

Romans 8:28

"What color should I do next?" Sally wondered aloud as she and her brother Ben worked together on a paint-by-number picture.

"Why don't you work on the black or the brown sections?" Ben suggested.

Sally made a face. "The blacks and browns are so boring. Let's skip them."

"But we need them for the bears," objected Ben.

"There are white bears, too," said Sally. "I'm going to paint the flowers-some red and some yellow. You can paint the bears if you want them colored." Ben shrugged and decided to work on the green trees and bushes instead.

Sally and Ben continued painting until all the colors were filled in except the blacks and browns. Sitting back to look at their picture, they both frowned. "It looks, well, it looks . . . weird, doesn't it?" Ben finally said.

"Yeah," Sally agreed. "I guess the picture needs the blacks and browns just as much as the other colors to make it look really good."

Mom, who had walked into the room, looked at the picture. "You know, kids, life is like this picture," she said.

Sally and Ben looked back and forth from the picture to their mother. "What do you mean, Mom?" Ben asked.

"Well, remember how sad we were last year when Grandpa died? That was like one of those black parts of the picture," Mom explained. "And earlier this spring, Ben, you were so disappointed that we couldn't afford to send you to baseball camp. That was another dark time for you."

Ben nodded. "Yes, but not as dark as when Grandpa died," he said, "so I guess that would be like the brown areas."

"Right," Mom agreed. "We'd like to have all fun times and happy times, like the bright colors of your painting. But God sees the complete picture of our lives. He knows that the dark and difficult times are needed as much as the bright and happier times. God uses all of them for our good."

As Sally picked up a brush and reached for the black paint, Ben took the brown. "Let's make this painting the best it can be," he said.

"And let's be content to let God paint our lives however He wants," said Mom. "Let's allow Him to make us the best we can be, too."