For those of you who are parents, there are some questions your children ask that you find it hard to answer. Gracie asked me one of those this week.
Our next door neighbors have a six-year-old daughter named Sydney. Gracie looks forward to Sydney's return home from the school bus everyday. Most afternoons, you'll find both girls in our backyard swinging, sliding or jumping on the trampoline together.
Gracie noticed something different about Sydney--her skin color. She asked me why Sydney has darker skin than she has. I told her that's the way God made Sydney. God gave Sydney dark skin and gave Gracie light skin. "But why, momma?"
I came up with the quickest answer I could. "God has lots of different flowers in His flower garden, just like we have in our yard. You and Sydney are like flowers in God's garden--you are both girls but you look different than each other. A garden is prettier when it has lots of different colored flowers in it," I said. That answer seemed to make sense to Gracie.
When you go throughout your day, take a moment to notice all of the different colored "flowers" God has put in this world.
2 comments:
That's beautiful. That was a very good illistration you gave her, Barbie. I have a similar story. I teach Sunday School at my church. They are children ages 2-4. We had a new little comer Sunday who was darker than the other children. One of my regular kids asked me, "How come his skin isn't like my skin?" This was a little girl who was always trying to figure things out. I said something similar to what you said only I compared everyone's skin. She found that no one in the room had the exact same color skin. I told all of my kids that the reason God made us this way is so we can learn from each other. I explained to them that God didn't make anyone like anyone else and that your special skin color is a gift from God. I told them that God made us all not exactly like everyone else for a reason. The little girl understood and we went along with our lesson for that day.
Barbie,
I think one of the many reasons I visit your blog daily is to read all the creative similies and metaphors about life that you come up with. They're very inspiring, and at least I know I will smile at least once a day =) Thanks for everything.
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