Colouring Outside the Lines

by Alice Valdal

   I've had a bad week.  It started when I decided to update my author's webpage, using a program "they" said was the best.  I am not a techie but, armed with the assurance that the program would walk me through, I began.  I downloaded the files. I unzipped the files. I called my server and got an upgrade. I installed the files on my site, I clicked "view" and Voilà! -- it didn't work. The screen I was supposed to see, the one with all the instructions, didn't appear.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  But, I persevered, went to step 2.  That worked.  Step 3 worked, then at step 4 (of nine) the whole thing froze.  That little "loading" icon went around and around for hours but nothing happened.  I backed up, I reinstalled, I looked at the help menu, all to no avail . . . finally, defeated, I called my IT guy.  Four days later I'm still waiting for him to call back.
    So, I put the website chore aside and went on to another project, also on line.  When I tried to sign in, I was refused entry because, according to them,  I do not exist!
    By now my shoulders are higher than my ears and I walk away from the computer.  The pile of papers on my desk demands attention, so I sort and file and pick up my bank statement.  I always reconcile my statement with my bank book.  No problem. Not this week!  There are serious discrepancies and I can't find the error(s).
   The week is nearly over and I've been stymied at every turn.  Teeth gritted so tight my fillings are in danger, I walk outside . . . and dissolve into laughter.  The first thing to catch my eye is an Easter lily, blooming under a hydrangea bush.  It's a lovely sight, beautiful, eccentric, surprising, unique, and it stirs my soul to gratitude.

   In a world that wants to limit our conversations to 140 characters, insists that our pictures fall inside the lines and dictates how many letters we can have in our names, I am reminded that God's world has room for endless variety.
   In His marvellous creation a chameleon can change his colours, an Easter lily can bloom in July and He knows me by name, it is engraved in the palm of His hand.

   Praise God for the infinite variety of His Creation.  Praise Him for His boundless mercy.  Praise Him for His everlasting love.  Praise Him for the gift of an unexpected Easter lily.