One of Every Color
My 10 year old niece is an enthusiastic and energetic young girl with dark hair and big, brown eyes. Stephanie was adopted by my sister and her husband when she was three years old and by the time she entered kindergarten she had already been diagnosed ADHD and developmentally delayed. Since then she has endured many visits to doctors and counselors to assist her in achieving normal childhood experiences, both in school and out. One of the problems that has followed Stephanie as she matured, however, is understanding simple everyday concepts.Living in rural Minnesota, Stephanie participates in typical community activities, including the Busy Beavers 4-H club. Each summer the memberslook forward to proudly entering their projects at the Wadena County Fair. The big anticipation upon submitting their entries is to come back and see which ribbons they've earned once the judges have reviewed the various exhibits. As in most county fairs, a blue ribbon means Excellent, a red ribbon means Good, and a white ribbon means Fair.
Last summer Stephanie entered three different flowers from their garden, and she also entered a plate of home-baked cookies. Upon checking those entries, Stephanie discovered she had earned one white ribbon and three blue ribbons for her efforts. For her final project, Stephanie entered Muffin, the family's gold stripped cat, in the ever popular cat show. When it came time for the judges placement, Stephanie's face lit up and a big smile appeared as she held up her ribbon and exclaimed, "Mom, I got a red! I'm so happy that I got a red ribbon. That's just what I wanted," she said, her brown eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. When her mother asked why, she replied simply, "Because now I have one of every color!"
Even though all the other entries had earned a blue, Stephanie found joy in receiving a rainbow of ribbons. Too often we forget there is a difference between joy and happiness in that joy comes from within rather than the circumstances surrounding us. Our attitude in what happens, from the little things to the larger, more serious things, will play a big role in how you and I spend our life and subsequently effect those around us.
Joy is defined as a feeling of great delight or happiness; elation. But more importantly for Christians, scripture tells us that joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22) God gives us free will in how we choose to view each situation that comes our way. Choose to look for the rainbow of ribbons in whatever comes your way today.
Author's note: After sharing this article with my sister, she reminded me that Stephanie's middle name is Joy.
© 1999 Barbara Majchrzak