White crayons and the overarching power of God

Recently, my two year old has really been into coloring. Not only does she scribble the mess out of each page, but I noticed that she also does something interesting. She uses the white crayon on regular paper just like she uses any other crayon. As I sat contemplating what the purpose of the white crayon was, I realized a spiritual lesson tucked inside of it. A white crayon blends in easily when the page is regular, but it stands out when it is on black paper. And therein lies the spiritual lesson. God’s overarching power seemingly blends into our everyday, regular lives, but it takes the dark places or the trials to make His light (white crayon) to show up the most. I wonder, what trial are you facing today? Pick up a white crayon find some black construction paper and go to town coloring. His overarching power is all around you and working within your trials. 

Labeling: the game where no one wins

Just recently, my husband and I stumbled into a newer grocery store in town called Aldi. It’s known for cheaper prices and its ripe produce. Immediately, we noticed the branding or the labeling on each product. They looked like brand names, but in reality they were knock-offs. By trial and error over the years, we’ve found that some knock-offs can be good, while others leaving you lacking. Tread carefully upon your own knock-off treasure hunt.

Oh, and we also found ripe produce there, but there’s nothing to blog about that. Just a public service announcement.

The thing I thought about as we left Aldi was the fact that people pay a high price for labeling on products. But don’t we do the same with ourselves? If we have a condition or a medical issue, we don’t say, “I have this” or “I have that.” We tend to label ourselves and said, “I am this” or “I am that.” We aren’t very kind to ourselves by labeling either. It tends to not only get in our way of getting healthy, but it leeches on to become part of our identity (when really it shouldn’t). It taxes on us, weighs us down, and ultimately, at the end of the day, we pay too high a price for the labels we live under.

Just a few thoughts for today on that topic. Next time you find yourself in Aldi or in a situation that requires labeling, just do me a favor. Make sure you aren’t paying too high a price for that label.