Friday, February 7, 2014

A little paint covers just about anything...

I have been planning to create a blog for a long time.  I want to share the thoughts of my head and heart and keep them for later reflection.  I figured I would start by reposting an article I wrote for our newsletter a couple of years ago, August 2011.

“A little paint covers just about anything”


It’s amazing how God gives you what you need when you need it. Last week we had an amazing week of Vacation Bible School. When VBS was done I went back over to the church to begin cleaning up. Gratefully, I found that some angels had been cleaning up the sanctuary after church and a lot of the work was done. However, my celebration was cut short. I started touching up paint where tape had pulled some paint loose, when I noticed “IT”. It was black marks on the wall from the back left corner of the sanctuary all the way up to the front right corner of the sanctuary.

One of our beautiful children from VBS had either taken a toy or a pencil to the wall decorating it with black streaks as far as the eye could see. (silent pause of emotions) Once I got over the feeling of frustration and sadness, I talked to God. It is amazing what happened.

God planted in my heart, “Mike, this is just like I do with all of my ‘children’ all the time. When one of you makes a mistake, colors where you are not suppose to, hurts someone, or is hurt by someone, this is what I do.” God was telling me that the couple hours I spent cover up the mistakes of a little one, is no different than the love God shows us in covering up and forgetting our mistakes.

Many people say kids should not be in church because they don’t know how to act, they are too noisy, or just down right disrespectful. And I am reminded today, they do belong, just like me and you. We are messy and broken too. As long as we are there to let God wash away our imperfections, as long as we are there to give ourselves fully, as long as we can admit that we are sometimes downright disrespectful to each other, God may take a few hours, days, or years, but when you offer yourself to God the paint God uses washes away all our imperfections. I enjoyed painting that day. I hope you will allow God to paint with you.

In Christ,



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