We All Have A Purple Crayon

On Thanksgiving day, my grandparents came over, in the usual Carter tradition! Because there are soo many grand children, we typically have all of our birthdays in quarterly fashion (Dec-April, May-July, August-December)--mass birthday parties for all 23 grandchildren.

Because we hadn't had our August-December installment yet, my mother decided to kill two birds with one stone and do birthdays with my grandparents on Thanksgiving. My little brother Jason got a 5-story edition of Harold and the Purple Crayon.

If you've never read a Harold story, you really should make it a point to do so. My earliest exposure to Harold was not as a young child of Jason's age--no, it was in college, in my public relations Capstone class with Dr. James Perkins.

He read to our entire class on our very first day of our last required class in our major. At first, I thought it was really weird that he would read a children's book to a class of twenty-somethings ready to graduate and get jobs in the "real world."

Harold is a little boy who has nothing but a purple crayon and a blank page, his adventures take him far away from his bedroom window, and home. He encounters things that scare him, make him smile; he climbs mountains, falls into water- all very adventurous situations for a young boy with nothing but a crayon. BUT in every situation, he uses his crayon to make it through. When he falls into water, he draws a boat. When he needs to get a better view of where he is headed, he draws a mountain and climbs to the top. In the end, the crayon is all Harold really needs in life.

Re-reading that book on Thanksgiving, I had a new revelation about Harold. The first time I heard the story, I was inspired. Harold used what he knew and what he had to create his own ending, or his own destiny. Dr. Perkins could not have picked a better book to read to a class of green PR professionals. This time when I read it, I found myself thinking of the scripture that states God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Harold uses his crayon to create food, transportation, light (the moon by which he walked!)....the list goes on and on.

I guess what i'm saying is God really has equiped all of us perfectly for the unique situations that we encounter. My "purple crayon" is different than yours, but you know what? We all have one.