Children, Artwork, and the Providence of God

Today was such a beautiful day. Such an extraordinary, glorious, wonderful day. I had a piano recital, ran errands, and rode my bike. When it was getting late in the afternoon, I suddenly had an urge to paint watercolor. Eagerly, I ran up to my bedroom, dragging my heavy, over-sized box -- filled with my portfolio, paints, paper, pencils, brushes, and palettes-- down to my front yard, where the sun was gradually getting lower in the sky. I tore out a piece of my watercolor paper, and prepared the page for my paints. In a hurry to work while there was light, I splashed blue paint on both sides of the sheet, adding a nice swipe along the top. Then I carefully mixed my greens and my blues in my palette to create a nice color for the evergreens I was painting. Layering this on top of the blue on the sides, I formed the base for my trees. Applying layer after layer, my little landscape was starting to come together. Just then I heard the sweet voice of a young girl, and the heavy, uncoordinated footsteps of a seven-year-old boy. Glancing up, I saw our two next-door neighbor kids come romping on over to see what I was doing.


I love those kids. They make me laugh...every time. At seven and five years old, they are the sweetest little creatures ever. A bit crazy, yes, but still human beings created in the image of God. Nicholas is the quiet one. Samara, his little sister, says everything for him. But regardless of their personalities, they are just fantastic. Their family moved in about two months ago, after our neighbors of nine years left. Theirs is not a Christian home, from what I can tell. Yet God still writes his fingerprints on them.


Anyway, back to my story. Nicholas and Samara came over to check on what I was doing. When they saw that I was painting, they immediately wanted to do so as well. Laughing, I told them they could, and sent Matthew (my brother) inside to get some supplies for them. Making sure they didn't mix the paints, I showed them how to use water to create new colors and add variety to their paintings. I had been out on the grass that is currently dry, and, considering that I am ten years older than they are, my mess was far less significant than theirs. At the end, I packed up my paints and was done due to the darkness and cold, but the two neighbor kids just hopped up and left, taking their little masterpieces with them. At times, that would frustrate me, but not tonight. All I could do was smile, and pick out the dead grass from their messy palettes. These two children, who really are quite untidy, hyper, and chaotic, have been a huge blessing to me. Sometimes, they come knocking on my door at the most inconvenient times. You know, those sort of days where you are practicing piano while reading your homework assignment, and as soon as you are done you jump up and rush out the door? That's what I'm talking about here. At other times it means when I am having friends over to watch a movie. Very inconvenient. Or other days where I'm just in a bad mood. But when I actually do take the time to play with these children, and enjoy them, they are great, and are such a huge blessing to me.


For a long time, I've really wanted to be a teacher. One of my goals is to take a few children, and give them an education in exactly the way I've been thinking about since kindergarten. :) Then I want to try to get all this information into their heads, get them to read a million great books, and still have them love it. Ultimately, I want them to learn to see life as a gift from God's hand, and to want to embrace the true life that comes only from him. But for the past couple of years I've really been dying to gather up three or four "guinea pigs" to try my methodology on. I know I'm too young, though. About three or four months ago, I was praying about this, because I really do want to start working on this a little more closely, but I need kids I can do it with. And not my siblings. They are already smart, and are a bit too old to start working with right now. Plus, they're my siblings. :) Interestingly, a few weeks later, the new neighbors moved in. They had these two kids, and almost immediately, the kids came over to introduce themselves. The second time I met them, I was playing piano, and they came in with Mandy (my sister) to get water. Samara was a little taken with whatever it was I was playing right at the moment, and hopped down next to me on the piano bench. "Wow...I want to do that!" she said. I wasn't sure what to say, but I asked her if she wanted to learn. Sure enough, she did. So I sat down and taught her to play a C-scale, and identify a whole note. She was thrilled, and began "composing" her own music.


The music didn't really sound all that great, but it was cute. And I was struck by her desire to learn new things. The next time I saw Samara, I was standing in my garage. She marched in with her brother, and asked me to play. I said yes, and asked her what she wanted to play. She didn't know, so I showed her the pogo stick. "Do you know how to use this?" I asked her. She shook her head no, but said (again) that she wanted to learn. Cautiously holding her on, and ensuring she was wearing a helmet, I directed her in jumping up and down. She giggled, and it was rather amusing. The next time, I told her a story. That's just how it goes. And Nicholas is starting to catch on. God has provided me with two children, who just need a little love and attention, right next door! It's interesting, because I never would have thought to teach a little girl the random things I've taught her. Yet, it is exactly what I need to do. And I am still getting to practice my teaching ability, and try out my teaching methods. Maybe someday I'll really get to teach her what I want to. For now, though, I'll teach her what I can, and pour my heart into it, because that's what matters.


God, in his Providence, has placed this little girl right here at exactly the right time. I am thrilled to get to play even a small role in God's work. So, tonight, as I was painting, and laughing at the funny mistakes the two neighbor kids made on their artwork, I just had to stop and reflect. God is amazing. I also found out something really obvious, but random: if you spray your painting with water, and leave it out in the cold, it actually freezes right on your painting. Rather appropriate, considering that I was trying (and miserably failing) at painting a frozen lake. If those kids hadn't come over, I would have gone in sooner, and my painting never would have frozen. But, when Matthew was helping me clean up after them, he noticed the ice. I was amazed, and decided to stick my painting in the freezer to preserve the cool effect. Yet another of God's small providences. :)


Meridian