Color

Jamey Johnson, In Color Lyrics I said, Grandpa what’s this picture here It’s all black and white and ain’t real clear Is that you there, he said, yeah I was eleven Times were tough back in thirty-five That’s me and Uncle Joe just tryin’ to survive A cotton farm in the Great Depression And if it looks like we were scared to death Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other You should have seen it in color This one here was taken overseas In the middle of hell in nineteen forty-three In the winter time you can almost see my breath That was my tail gunner ole’ Johnny McGee He was a high school teacher from New Orleans And he had my back right through the day we left And if it looks like we were scared to death Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other You should have seen it in color A picture’s worth a thousand words But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered You should have seen it in color This one is my favorite one This is me and grandma in the summer sun All dressed up the day we said our vows You can’t tell it here but it was hot that June That rose was red and her eyes were blue And just look at that smile I was so proud That’s the story of my life Right there in black and white And if it looks like we were scared to death Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other You should have seen it in color A picture’s worth a thousand words But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered You should have seen it in color You should have seen it in color I can't really say that this says anything scripturally, but it says a lot to me on many levels. Of course, the most obvious is that you can't know what someone is going through until you go through it yourself. You can't understand the death of a spouse, the destruction of a home, an unexpected birth, a terminal illness, or being alone until you have gone through it yourself. What you can understand are just shades of gray. There are lots of happy things you can't understand either until you experience them...the love in someone's eyes, the birth of a long awaited child, a new home, friends around you. Those colors seem brighter and cheerier; I like them. Pastels of a quiet walk with God, holding a sleeping child, listening to a love song, or reading a good story are just as comforting, if not as bright. I guess the way this song touches me religiously is to know that Christ went through all of those emotions and he sees it all in color. There is no gray area with God; He knows it all. Praise God for colorful lives. ----------- The boys are back!! Yeah!!! Tomorrow we will go to the free summer movie and then hit the park for pizza with some friends. It will be a celebration of my three little ones finally seeing the two bigger ones. It has been a month since they have been together. They really are like brothers, and they miss each other. This is my last week with the boys until August, the little 3 anyway. They head to France for a long holiday with their parents. School starts in a couple of weeks for us here. I am trying to get the schedule together, and feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. The older they get the harder school is to get through. I also have to remember that I have to grade everything I assign. Ugh.