Six year old Shelly was the sort of girl who saw great beauty in the seemingly insignificant things she found all around her as she went about her way. Each day was a brand new adventure and she never failed to awake with a spring in her step each morning. Ever eager to discover what promise the day held in store for her. Her mum used to take her for long walks in the park where they'd spend hours together laughing and playing under the heat of the sun. Her mum was an artist and she loved to paint in the park. Something she tried very hard to teach Shelly to do as well over the years, but with very limited success.
Shelly loved the sound of her mum's laugh and the way painting always made her smile. Sadly though, they hadn't been to the park for quite some time, as her mum was slowly dying upstairs of cancer. Shelly didn't really understand much about cancer, or why her mum had to take so many pills, but she did know that she hadn't seen her smile in ever such a long time and was determined to try and change that. With that thought in mind, she stood anxiously on a stool to try and open up the big cupboard where she knew her mum kept all her paints.
Her tiny hands reached out for the tin of yellow paint her mum used to paint beautiful flowers with in all of her pictures, but as she did so it fell abruptly to the floor with a sudden thud. Then, to make matters worse, her naughty puppy Coco playfully stepped in the paint before quickly running off, leaving a trail of paw prints behind her. Shelly tried her best to clean it all up, but only seemed to make matters worse. Eventually though, she did get some paints out on the kitchen table and started to paint a picture of the park for her mum. Or at least how she remembered it the last time they went there together. The picture was starting to look really good when she accidentally spilled heaps of red paint all over it by mistake.
Just looking at the mess she had created on the table was too much for her to take and she suddenly burst into tears. All she had wanted to do was paint something nice to make her mum smile again. So what if she couldn't take her to the park anymore, Shelly would bring the park to her instead. She simply wanted to show her mum that she loved her no matter what! Now though, her plans lay in ruins on the kitchen table as the tears continued to flow uncontrollably from her eyes.
Just then she saw her mum standing at the kitchen doorway looking rather weak and extremely tired. Shelly was certain her mum was going to scold, or at least spank her, when she caught her eying the mess on the table. "Sorry mum" she cried out "I'll clean it all up, I promise. I was just trying to paint you a picture of the park." Her mum said nothing and instead made her way across to the painting on the table before giving her the biggest smile in the world. "Thanks!" she said. "That's just how I remember it" she whispered before turning and hugging Shelly with all the strength she still had left in her shell of a body. Covering herself and her housecoat with a mess of paint as she did so.
Shelly's mum is a bit like God when we make a mistake. Sometimes we just do silly things that we deeply regret, or make huge monumental mistakes that turn our life upside down and inside out all at the same time. But no matter how much of a mess with think we've made of things, God is always there looking at the beauty inherent in us all, rather than the mess we've made of things, ever ready to help us clean it all up.
For the reality of life is that even when we do our very best to accomplish something good, there is always going to be the chance that it will all turn into one huge big disappointment. Be that at work, with our health and particularly in our relationships with other people. But just because there is a slight chance that we might mess things up, that doesn't mean we should ever stop trying. Sooner or later we'll get it right. After all, there is no sunshine without rain. So go ahead and dare to make a little mess in your own life today!
(C) Charles Anthony McFaulds
