Lily sat on the front row of folding chairs in the community hall, feet dangling above the floor as she watched the magician preparing his next illusion. Moments earlier, he’d shown the audience a small wooden box filled with crayons. He reached for a plain coloring book lying on the table. The pages were white and untouched.
He tapped the box with his wand and lifted the lid again. Empty. The crayons had vanished.
With a sweep of his hand across the coloring book, color poured onto the paper. Clouds formed. Sunshine spilled to the edges. The grass beneath the drawn sky turned soft spring green.
He tapped the box once more. Now it overflowed with those same bright crayons, the ones that had just “traveled” through the pages.
Lily grabbed her mother’s arm. “Mama… is this Jesus?”
Her mother smiled and pulled her closer. “It’s just magic, honey. But it feels a little bit like Him sometimes.”
Elsewhere in the room, people lined up for Aunt Jenny’s pumpkin cookies. Uncle Ray had someone cornered to show off his potted plants again. “They’ll bloom any day now,” he kept saying.
Lily leaned against her mother’s shoulder, watching the magician pack up his box. She thought about the crayons. They’d disappeared, then came back as colors on the page, then appeared again in the box.
“Mama,” she whispered. “Where did they go when they were gone?”
Her mother kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know, sweetheart. But they came back—just like Jesus will come back for us.”
A special thank you to Bill Sickels for sharing his magic.
Jamison!
You wordpaint in vibrant colors and muted hues of
grace!
We are all family waiting for promised salvation.
What a reunion God has planned for us!
Jim, Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing your family reunion pictures. Diane and you have a wonderful family.
We are indeed blessed, Ferrell. The magician was a hit!
That was such a beautiful way to give a gift to all in your family and to all of those who read this thoughtful piece. So happy I am now on the mailing list! God bless, Jane
Thank you, Jane. I am so honored to have you here! Your support is invaluable to me. Take care…see you soon.
Jim This is another of your great writings> Thank you so much!! Have a blessed week.
As always, thank you, Dick. Your support and friendship are appreciated.
Just loved it Jim! It is certainly a magical piece of work!
We all need a bit of magic in our lives… Thank you, my dear friend.
Absolutely beautiful! You are a blessing to your family to arrange this reunion, have the beautiful photos taken and then gift all the family members with your amazing writing, which will continue with them all through the future generations!
Thank you so much, Pat. You are such a blessing to me. I appreciate you.
What a great family! Where is the very talented man who put this together? Find ‘Jim’
Ha… I’m keeping a low profile in the back row…
Thank you, my friend … I’ll see you Sunday.