Joy Paint

"My heart is full of joy paint." - My daughter Callie, on a walk home from the store together yesterday

 

I needed to go to the store to pick up some stuff, and I decided to walk (to exercise my sprained ankle), when my daughter Callie looked up with fire in her eyes and said, "I wanna go!"

 

"You can go, " I told her.

 

I had a ball cap on, and she asked, "Are you wearing that hat?" I told her yes, and off she went, finding one of her cute hats and put it over her long, but somewhat tangled (from swimming) red hair. Dog-gone-it, this girl is so cute.

 

So we walked out the front door and headed for the store. I knew that Callie would be a super-great conversationalist for our walk (she always is), but her first words as we crossed the street were, "Can we get some flowers for mom?"

 

As we walked, she spoke of things ranging from the great trip to Houston we just returned from, the beautiful weather, the landscaping of a house we walked by, how she likes the color pink, her sadness about the loss of Dixie (the dog of her friend Kacy we stayed with in Houston), the picture she drew on a post-it honoring Dixie that she placed on the grave, how pleased she was that we were together on this walk, and many, many other subjects.

 

After we bought the things we needed, Callie insisted on carrying half the load all the way home, even though I offered to do so. She wanted to be "fair" to me. 

 

So as we walked home and I watched my daughter lug what was quite a respectable load for her when she didn't have to, and I thought about how she regularly draws pictures for people, how quick she is to serve, how deeply she feels, how much she smiles, how excited she gets about people and simple pleasures, and I just had to tell her...

 

"Callie, you know, you spread lots and lots of joy. Everywhere you go, you notice good things and give good gifts."

 

And here is my favorite part. Her answer was instant, matter of fact, and self-aware. There was no ego, no false pretense, no fake humility, nor any boastful intentions. What she said, she said as if she knows it as a deep and objective reality, and as something she taps into all the time...

 

"Yeah, my heart is full of joy paint."

 

Yes, it is Callie. And I bask gratefully in the privilege it is for me to observe you dipping your paintbrush in it constantly and using it so liberally, with such freedom and confidence, blessing the world as you go with your very full heart of joy paint. 

 

And I am so blessed to be the regular and constant recipient of it's masterpieces. 

 

Callie starts Art Camp today, and she promises to come home with one piece of art each day. And I have no doubt that each one will be delivered with a huge smile, an excited voice, and a story about how it came about.

 

And splattered abundantly with joy paint.