Coloring Outside the Lines

The picture I shared yesterday got me thinking about coloring, specifically coloring outside the lines.

I have never really been one to color outside the lines. I'm a rule follower. Elephants are gray. The sky is blue. Flowers are shades of pink and purple.

I can already tell Sam is going to be a color-outside-the-lines kind of kid. And I'm trying really hard to let it happen.

It would be so easy for me to stand over him as he plays, dictating which toys go together and which ones don't.

But Sam knows what he likes. He likes to park his trains in the barn and put his animals on top of tall block towers. Thanks to papa, he has a collection of wooden ducks that he moves along his train tracks. A toy's a toy and it's fun when they're all playing together.

I pray that Sam will continue to follow his heart when it comes to creativity, and I pray even more that I can help foster this. It may require me to loosen up on a few personal definitions, but it's worth it. Seeing him color outside the lines is worth it.