Tuesday, August 4, 2020

I remember when my favorite color was orange.

I also remember when my favorite color was red, purple, and yellow. At some point, I stopped picking colors so when folks asked which one was my favorite, you'd probably hear me say something like, "The Rainbow! I love them all! 🥰”

Here's the thing, my mama’s favorite color was red. My sister's favorite color was purple. Around the time I settled my heart on yellow or maybe at that time it was orange 🤔🤷🏾‍♀️. I remember a girl in school telling me that one of my beloved bright colors was actually HER favorite.

It belonged to her. 😒

Or at least that's how I recall that moment feeling.

Can you relate to this in some way? Have you ever felt like other folks had something that was unique and special to them?

I can raise my hand with you on that 🙋🏾‍♀️ BUT I also discovered some affirming truths that coincide with the things I love, my gifts, my calling and my purpose.

Truth #1: It’s possible for the things I value to also be valued in similar ways by others, but what's also true is our presentation will never be the same because God has uniquely created each of us.
Exhibit A
Take exhibit A aka me 😌. Another woman could wear that same dress in the same color and maybe we even choose the same size, but that dress won’t fit us the same. There will be differences in the curves and shapes of our bodies and likely our accessories too!

Truth #2: The value of a thing can change depending on the season, yet God reveals new things and beauty with time.

Let me tell you, you will not catch me wearing a big black coat in the heat of summer. It's too hot for that and I live in Georgia. But you will find me exploring my summertime fine wardrobe 💃🏽—including this orange dress! Why? Because it fits the season. Also, I received compliments from strangers the day this photo was taken (all while wearing my mask 😷) so I think it's fair to say God has His way of revealing beauty.

As I think about my childhood attempts to define my favorite color, I can visualize how my love for purple probably extended over to orange and yellow. While I'm sure I was no Picasso (at least back then 👩🏾‍🎨), if you gave me some paper, coloring pencils and some crayons, with a stroke of a big circle and some lines (maybe a few curvy ones), your girl could've given you a glorious Sun! ☀️

To put that in perspective with how I dress today, I see how God has used moments as simple as drawing the Sun more than 20 years ago to reveal things I value and love about life and about me. I love things that are bright and I love light! It all translates over to the woman I am today.

Discovery! God is drawing us to this place of discovery! I mean literally, as I'm typing this, I'm recognizing there's part of a compass right before my feet in this photo.

When thinking about your life, what things has God given you that you literally just need to discover in new ways? When you think about the colors of the rainbow, they never change. The same colors we see today are the same ones that existed when we were 5 years old and before we were even born. We just discover those rays in new ways and in different seasons, but the whole spectrum 🌈 was there.

So I believe, like the colorful clothes in my wardrobe, God is revealing what He's given me. And what He’s given can't belong to anyone else because it ultimately belongs to Him. And He'll use it all to reveal the beauty of His glory.


This will be the truth I remember.


Scriptures for reflection—

I Corinthians 12:4-7, 11 (HCSB) Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial... But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMP)
He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

Romans 11:36 (HCSB)
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

#ReflectionsWithJesus

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