Grace-filled Layers

My nephew was visiting us recently, and he loves coloring as much as I do, so we colored together quite a bit. He likes using colored pencils, and between the two of us we have quite a selection - four boxes full! I really enjoyed sharing this time with him, with pencils and paper spread out all around us. I was pretty impressed with his eye for color, too - he is very specific about the colors he uses, and how they mix with or compliment each other, and he always chooses them perfectly. 

Colored pencils are not my favorite medium to work with, because I can't bear down very hard, and it takes a lot of pressure for the colors to be vibrant. But here's something I realized as I colored with my nephew: colored pencils are full of grace. Because I don't make dark marks, it doesn't matter so much if I go out of the lines a little; I can always erase or color back over my mistakes with other pencils. It also doesn't matter much if I accidentally use the wrong shade; I can just blend another color over it.

And then I realized something else: if I shade multiple layers with multiple pencils on the same spot, the color becomes more full and vibrant! 

The left panel of "The Little Mermaid II"

And anyway, if you really look closely at a rock or leaf (in real life), they aren't one solid color of gray or green, are they? They have depth and dimension, light and shadow, and a million particles that make them unique and beautiful. So, my grass has three colors blended in, my rocks have four colors, and my hanging vines and branches have five colors. And yes, it took quite a while to get it finished and looking the way I wanted. With the first layer, I thought it looked ok - with the second layer, I thought it looked better... and with every additional layer, I liked it more and more. 

So colored pencils remind me of the grace of God... quick to forgive, erase, and cover over my sins. From the fullness of his love, we receive grace upon grace (John 1:16). And with every layer of his grace, my life becomes more beautiful, more enriched, a more complete depiction of his love. 

Listening to: "Grace Upon Grace," by Josh Wilson