Outside the Lines

This morning proved to be interesting. I was in the kitchen, working on a batch of yummy grain & nut pancakes, when I heard my husband call out to my son, "What are you doing?" I assure you, those are NOT words any mamma wants to hear at 9:30 in the morning. I'm glad I took a sec to gather myself before I rounded the corner, because I wasn't prepared to see the masterpiece my son had created.

 It's not like we haven't provided him with a space to freely express his creativity, and with many different mediums. And I must say, for a 4 year old, he's become a little artist, who is quite skilled in his creations. *proud mamma* However, I guess, something in his little mind decided that it was time to expand his repertoire to include carpet art. Yep. Crayon. Meet Carpet.

Had I thought to take a picture of it before I scrubbed it up, (because who wants a rainbow in crayon in the middle of their floor), I could have shown you the detail and intention  that he had put into this creation. I must confess that, afterward, I felt kind of bad for disciplining him for inappropriate coloring.  Wow... inappropriate coloring. 

This is a place of struggle for me, lately.  I've surrendered my Tater to the Lord on several occasions, asking Him to please fix the MANY mistakes I've made (already) in the parenting of my son. He is, without a doubt, a strong willed child. And, while I want to ensure that He learns to obey (especially the Lord), I don't want to break His spirit, and cause him to be afraid to stand up for himself when the opportunity presents itself. And in this age, that's a certainty.

So, where's the line? When did coloring outside of the lines become a bad thing?. Even in preschool, learning rudimentary skills include tracing and coloring pages. And while every mom wants their children to learn to read and write, I can't help wondering why technique must be learned at the expense of creativity. I just don't want my son's voice to be stifled. He was built to create. To wonder.  

How do I know? Because we all were. And, he has my genes in him. I remember my mother telling me the story about a stubborn little girl who just had to find out what Kool-aid would look like if it were mixed into carpet. Yep.  It seems  that as a budding artist, I had a passion for carpet art as well. Apparently, my son is more like me than I thought.

So, today I am thanking the Lord for reproducing passion and courage to color outside of the lines within my children, and the reminding me that He IS able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or think , according to the power that works in me.  ~ Ephesians 3:20

All I have to do is pick up my crayon.