Good morning…
As my awesome friend came to our home for a walk and talk, we looked across the street to see joy in the making.
The little, smiley girl from across the street was having a birthday, and this was the coronavirus version of “Celebrate good times!” My friend and I walked up some hills and talked up a storm, enjoying cool raindrops along the way. When we returned to our home, we saw the happy signs all in place. Joy. Pure joy.
We went inside briefly. Excitedly I showed my friend the fun, vintage 60’s dresses I had gotten from a yard sale.
Walking back outside to say goodbye, I looked more closely at the celebration signs.
“You know, it’s sad to me that Ire doesn’t have a Disney princess who looks like her, who mirrors the beauty of her own black skin,” I said with new awareness, grateful that my brown eyes are finally beginning to see injustices.
“At least Jesus probably had her dark-colored skin,” my friend shared her own revelation. Beneath every color lies God’s unchanging truth: “Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b, CSB).
Soon after leaving our home, my friend texted me a picture from our front yard. Kindly she had created for me a circular gift from purple fallen pedals in our driveway.
Then from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, Ire had her drive-by birthday party. For a full hour carloads of black friends pulled up to the curb with handmade signs, dropping off gifts, exchanging great love, and receiving their “goody bags.” After the last car left, my husband and I walked over to give Ire our gift – a sweet pottery bowl imprinted with the words “Jesus loves me.” Along with a copy of the picture book I wrote, Scared to Soar?
After expressing thanks, Ire leaned in to whisper, “This book will be great for me, I get a little skittish.”
Don’t we all get a little skittish sometimes?
Skittish. Joyful. Excited. Sad. Grateful. Kind. Scared. Loved. Whatever the color of our mood, God provides for all of us a deep, enduring connection. Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands…your walls are continually before Me (Isaiah 49:16, AMPC).
…Sue…
