You may remember I told you I put a note in my phone at the bottom of my to do list where I wrote, “Dear God, When can I paint?” If not, go here. Well, I’ve heard it said that when we ask for something in prayer God has two responses.
“Not yet.”
Or, “I have something better.”
Here’s a funny story about the time God said, “Not yet.”
My best friend from middle and high school came to visit me one summer in our happy place by the Chesapeake Bay where we feel free. We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed a glass of sauvignon blanc after our meal chatting and laughing and remembering the good old days.
Little did we know our two little boys (three-year-olds at the time) had gone downstairs in my basement and were having the time of their lives squeezing vividly colored acrylic paints like water guns at each other, at the carpets, in the air, everywhere. It must have brought great joy and excitement in the moment until they were discovered by one of my other children. I imagine they might have had that icy cold realization when all of the sudden the fun and games stop and you understand that what you’ve been up to is terribly, terribly wrong.
The shrieks of joy hadn’t clued us in, but the sunset orange and pthalo blue footprints now surely did. My friend fretted about the carpet while I scooped up two naughty boys, stripped ‘em naked and put them in a soapy bubbly tub.
(But let’s be honest, I should have known the time was not yet right! Three-year-olds and paint unattended do not mix!)
XOXO,
Anne