It was my son's birthday the other day, and because he is my little contemplative artist, a party fully decked out with watercolors, clay, paint palettes, and vibrant color seemed to fit the occasion. Inspired most recently by garlands, I decided to make my own from bits of paper, fishing line, and office stickers. I then added balloons and other touches to create a festive environment for the celebration.
The boys arrived, and I quickly put them to work at decorating the birthday banner. They did a wonderful job, and decided to add splotches of paint to the balloons above the table as well. Yes, "Boys will be boys!" In consideration of their need to throw, shoot, or climb, I sent the boys outside with squirt guns loaded with watered down paint in order to create a unique masterpiece. They tried so very hard to obey the rules and keep the guns aimed at the paper, but every so often a random shot was fired in the wrong direction. At least they had old t-shirts covering their clothes in order to prevent too much damage! After devouring the pizzas they created themselves, they played some games of Wii, opened presents (of course), and decorated their own ice cream sundaes. The concoctions of M&M's, pretzels, cherries, fudge, whipped cream, coconut, Reese's Pieces, and sprinkles turned out to be beautiful masterpieces.
The party was great fun and such a reminder of the amount of energy even a small group of boys can exude. What a privilege it is to guide that energy toward greatness. Although only seven now, I often wonder what this dear contemplative son of mine will become. Will he be a great artist, a musician, an architect, or perhaps an astronaut? The possibilities are endless. One thing I know, whatever he chooses, it is the prayer of my heart that he will do it to glorify the One who made him so uniquely talented.
