Purple

I first started enjoying the color purple several years ago. It was before purple was an “accepted color” …meaning it wasn’t a star in the fashion world…clothing or home décor. But there was something about that color that attracted me…it made me smile. Maybe it was Gummy, my grandmother, she loved violets. There were always several of them growing in pretty pots or dishes which sat on a table near several windows of her home. It took her gentle knowledgeable hand to care for them. When I went to her house, I would always take time to drink in the amazing shades of purple that showcased within their delicate blossoms. I think that’s where the color purple and all its beauty first entered my heart. Gummy always believed in me and had time do things with me that my parents weren’t able to do like going to symphonies and ballets. I went to many of her student’s piano recitals and was often with her when she played the organ for various church services. She showed me how to fold laundry, eat wheat toast and save leftovers in the freezer in empty cottage cheese containers. She drank her morning coffee and afternoon tea out of real tea cups…maybe that’s why I love tea cups. I miss her…

I remember in the 80’s having my colors done. That meant a color consultant of sorts would choose different colored fabrics, put them against my face and skin to see what color palette looked best on me. They categorized everyone as a season…summer, fall, winter or spring. I was a summer and my “power color,” which was the color that looked the best on me was purple. The truth was it really did look amazing on me; maybe because I felt beautifully confident from the inside out when I wore it. In that era finding purple in clothing was difficult at first, so I had only a few pieces that I used strategically when I wanted to ramp up my confidence level.

Since those many years ago I have added many pieces of clothing that are purple as well as numerous other items that are purple… a cell phone, tape measure for my knitting, a bathroom, notebooks, sticky notes, pens and more pens, with my most recent addition being my laptop whom I named Violet Ann. As I think about it almost every room in my home and parts of my life have a touch of purple. Now, if I have a color to choose it’s purple. I guess it’s become my default color of choice. I guess it’s a bit ridiculous that I am now recognized by my color…if it’s purple it must belong to Donna!

I have recently realized that purple become more comfort than confidence. It has been THE choice I go to so I don’t have to make a choice. How did that come to be? Maybe it’s just plain life…life and all its challenges twists and turns. After all more often than not my priority was just to keep treading water for the moment in, with no thought of tomorrow and pondering colors and adding more of them to my life wasn’t on the top of my list of things to do.
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As I think about it, since my discovery of my favorite color, we moved to Colorado, had a miscarriage and two more babies, homeschooled all 5 of our children, graduating 4 of them that way, and bought 2 homes. Larry has changed jobs twice and worked nights for almost 20 years. Our family has take many mission trips together and individually, 4 of our children have been to around the world serving as interns with various ministries. We have celebrated 3 (almost 4) of our kiddos graduate from college, buried 3 of our parents. Two of our sons are married to amazing women, while we are continuing to pray for more marriages and the grandbabies to come. As we have raised five children there have been hundreds of stitches and several broken bones, buckets of tears (theirs and ours), late night talks, lots of parties, oodles of disagreements, joys and heartaches, prayer time and lots of laughing…not to mention the cars, ohhhh the many cars and driving lessons, licenses, accidents, speeding tickets, flat tires, and many, many car repair lessons.

Now, this is a new season with there is so much changing in my life. Sometimes there is more change than I am ready for. One random thought I have had was maybe I need to look at some other colors…colors that would challenge me to find some other parts of who I am…some things maybe I didn’t know were there, others that maybe I have buried and forgotten…I know…you are wondering if I now have too much time on my hands…maybe…but stay with me for minute…it might be fun…

I have always looked at color as having a personality or something to say… Let me take the privelge of using my family as examples…Forgive me one and all..

Red…bold if it’s fire engine red, but sophisticated if it’s more burgundy. Sometimes red people can are full of extra energy and share their “extra” energy with someone they are with. Other times
they are drawing energy from people around them, not realizing they are leaving those people empty. They don’t mean to do it; it’s just their larger than life personality! I have a couple of wonderful amazing friends who are red and they always jar me out of my boring life when they are around!

Yellow…Rachel, Brad’s wife is yellow… bright and cheery…outgoing if it is the color of the outside of
a lemon, but a quiet cheeriness if it’s the inside of a lemon color. Yellow people usually have a
kind word from their hearts…often from the Lord for others. They bring that warmth of sunshine to all those around them. What a gift they can be to everyone!

Green…My sister, Melanie…now stay with me here, especially if you are the previously mentioned
sister reading this! : D I used to really dislike green. In the 70’s there was only avocado green I always thought of it as something to eat but not paint your walls with. Grass green…but it belonged on a lawn. Just like little sisters were someone who was part of your family, but you didn’t really ask for them. But as the years have gone by, I’ve come to discover and appreciate the wonderful shades of green…they are calming, soothing to the eyes and bring a peacefulness to a room. My sister is fun and outgoing like I am, but her sisterhood with me has brought all of those qualities to my life. Her perspective about God is a blessing to my life, like sitting in soft grass under a leafy green aspen, eating a BLTA…bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado sandwich! Yum!

Blue…I think of the oldest and youngest of my sons, Sean and Joel…Whenever I have asked them
what color they would want for just about anything, it was always blue. Joel even painted his
room two shades of blue. They are guys who have powerful personalities; which have translated into their lives. Each of their life directions is very strong and decisive. When I think of them I see the deep, dark and navy blues or the electric blues. They are bold and don’t wait for life to happen to them, they make life happen for them. And yet… just like a gentle blue of a sky or a soft powder blue of a baby’s room, they can show their gentle, understanding heart. What a contrast they can be, but both of them are all shades of blue!

Brown…Todd, he is creative, funny, analytical, and thoughtful, but he has always wanted life to be
simple at home. The shades of brown offer one’s heart and the eye something that feels like comfort and stability. I think that’s why he likes browns to live around and wear. In the past I always thought of brown as boring color (never Todd!), but now there are so many shades that can be used to warm up a wall in a family room, or coordinate an amazing outfit. It’s color that can be worn all year and paired up with many other colors. Many shades of the same color to enjoy…just like the multi-layers of Todd’s personality.

Pink…Kati, our beautiful daughter and first born, loves blue and she really does have many of the
qualities of blue I mentioned before… but as her mom, I think of her true, deep, insides as
pink…all the shades of pink. Pink is fun, creative, quiet or amazingly bold. It is feminine, but
not sissy. Just like Kati can a smile to my face, pink does too because it can be so child like,
yet it can be very, sophisticated and confident….Kati is all of that and much, much, much more!
Pink is amazing because it can be a blue-ish pink or a purplie pink…but it’s still pink…

Gray…Now this sounds goofy and like a put down, but be patient…Brad is gray…not the boring, gag,
do nothing gray, but all the things gray has to offer…a charcoal gray suit is handsome and can go anywhere, gray athletic wear is comfortable, durable and dependable. A medium gray can be a warm fuzzy sweater that is a favorite to wear on a snowy day. Gray is dependable, steady, fun, and can be surprisingly creative if the creator has the imagination. Think of how strong, steady and safe a navy battleship looks…That’s our Brad!

Purple…Amy, Todd’s sweetheart, is a purple girl. Dark purple is her favorite, but her personality
seems to be like all the shades that purple has to offer, the bold of grape, the gentle of violet,
and the fun purple-pink shades. Getting to enjoy all her shades of purple will be a joy, I hope for
years to come.

Orange…Michelle, our new daughter, Sean’s wife, she is an self-assured woman who used a delicious
shade of orange for their wedding. It’s a color that evokes confidence, adds flair and a great depth of wisdom about life and Michelle shines with all of those qualities. It is a life journey for me to develop those types of orange traits in my life. My confidence to embrace orange grows as I watch Michelle…and when I looking at sunsets. Sunsets are orange too… with all its shades. A sunset sends a signal the day is done while giving us hope because we know on the other side of the world God is beginning a new day, sometimes with an orange sunrise! Pa Pa, my grandpa, loved sunsets, I think of him when I see an especially beautiful one. Like Michelle, he was confident and had his own flair for life…at least that’s the way I remember him. He was also a happy go lucky guy that didn’t really fit into anyone’s box, and he made his grandchildren very happy when he with them. So, I guess…my Papa was orange too.

White…Newborn babies, new beginnings, clean …but think about the shades of white there are
now…winter white, candlelight white, bright, bluish white…some look more cream other look
so bright it’s hard to look at it. White fits with almost everything around. White allows the other
colors to be seen more clearly. White can be used by itself in a monochromatic way…an
artistically amazing sight. White and all its shades tie together all the other colors of the
rainbow. Larry, my husband, is the white of my life…white in all its shades.

Black…This one is tough, because I love black…it is a safe color to wear and does much of what white can do. In clothing it is classy, chic, and almost always appropriate and safe to wear. Black is a
striking backdrop for a colorful accessory.

When referring to someone’s personality black isn’t safe, appropriate, classy or chic. The black
of my personality has hidden my true heart away from not only the world, but from my family,
friends and but myself. It has shown its self in the form of anger and depression and has made
enjoying life not only difficult at times…almost impossible. BUT…an interesting thought,
occurred to me…essence of black is all the colors combined…every color, all
their shades, all their tones, all each color has to offer are contained in black…but what is
missing to see all of those colors is the light…and if we think of a rainbow…it’s also missing water too. The light and water reflected in the air illuminate the colors to shine and make the invisible…beautifully visible!

Author Donald Ahrens in his text Meteorology Today describes a rainbow as “one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth”. Indeed the traditional rainbow is sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets. The “bow” part of the word describes the fact that the rainbow is a group of nearly circular arcs of color all having a common center. http://eo.ucar.edu/rainbows/

The distortions of my life occur and the black of life overwhelms me when The Light and The Living Water of my life is not my focus or the “circular arc” of my life. I can’t see life clearly when there is no Light or Water flowing in my life and I can’t see the true colors in my heart, therefore not seeing what God intended for me to enjoy.

In Genesis 1 God spoke light and water into being. Later after the flood He gave a rainbow as a sign of His love and faithfulness. He teaches us in Matthew 5 that we are the light of the world and to shine and not hide it.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light
a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in
the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 NAS

When a basket is over my life…whatever the reason is…first it shuts the light out, then it keeps whatever light that is in me…it keeps it from shining out…the basket keep others from seeing what God is doing …even wants to do in my life…

God made the rainbow and more…all the color we see in the world around us.
He is in all the shades and tones.
He is in me and can draw out of me, the colors I haven’t seen yet.
And He can shine through me so the colors that have been hidden by the black that has overcome my life at times…those colors can be seen because of Him
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I want this new season, to be one of discovery…to allow the light that He is in me…the rainbow of God’s heart shine on my life and illuminate all that is in me. I want to be that light of the world, set on a hill and not hidden by a basket of darkness. In doing that I hope that His glory will shine through me…encourage others to allow Him to do the same in their lives. There is so much more…but for now…I don’t know how that will happen, but I KNOW He will do it…my part is opening my heart up to all the colors of the rainbow, not just purple.