The joy of a box of new crayons can’t be erased with my years as an adult. I still remember the rows of uniform crayons, standing tall with perfect points and free of peeled wrappers or any breaks. A small box with a single row of colors was a prestigious award, but a Christmas or birthday box of 64 — well there were no words for such an unbelievable treasure!

You can imagine my delight when “adult” coloring books appeared in stores a a few years ago. There were more people like me — color-fixated grownups! And yes, I have several coloring books that can have great appeal on cold, rainy winter evenings. I have to be disciplined!

When I think about colors and the fond memories they have given me I think about “living” crayons that have colored my life. I was blessed with a wonderfully kind elementary teacher who colored my school days with a warm yellow. Leaving my mother to spend most of a weekday in a classroom kept my early school days in a gray color. I DID NOT want to be there — and then this wonderful, amazing teacher colored my classroom with vibrant, happy colors. Her life’s crayon colored many lives, especially mine.

God colored my spring seasons with green — green grass to tumble in — green tree frogs to chase — green leaves to shade our playhouse and rows of green plants in our garden, promising more colorful meals.

A few people in my past have colored my life with dark, dismal browns. Their colors could have covered my tomorrows, but God’s Word has been a cleansing agent to wash away those dark colors. He has also used those dark colors by drawing me close to His brilliance where I have found solace and a greater desire to please the Father and paint bright, joyful colors onto other lives.

There was a special Sunday School teacher that used a red crayon to point me to the suffering of Jesus on the cross. It was His blood, shed for me! She pulled that red color from her box of life-molding colors often. I needed to be reminded over and over of the price that Jesus paid for the gift of salvation. Such a gift was my choice to receive or ignore. I will never forget the rainbow of colors that showered into my heart the day I received God’s priceless gift!

After that life-changing experience, Jesus pointed me to His color — purple. It represented royalty — the King of Kings and LORD of Lords! He painted purple over my life, a color that passed royal lineage to me, His child! Eternally indebted for that lineage, purple will always be one of my favorite colors because it’s a reminder that I’m a forever-child of The King.

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS, 39602, or emailed to camille@datalane.net.