Joseph's coat

Last night Emma, Ruthie, and Olivia came over for a pajama party. I was talking with Jen about maybe watching a movie towards the end, and she mentioned that they had checked out Joseph: King of Dreams from the library. Things always go a little smoother if we have a couple of structured things planned, so I did the Joseph--a coat of many colors lesson from Danielle's Place (you might need a membership to get to the Joseph lesson--if you don't have one, consider it! I definitely get my money's worth out of it!)

In the lesson, the kids listened for me to say a color, and then colored a stripe on Joseph's coat that color--like I'd say "his brothers were green with envy" and they'd color a stripe green.

Two things struck me as I read the story from my Bible last night. First, how many times it said, "And God was with him." The other was now long it was between when his brothers sold him to the slave traders and when they saw him again. A lot of that time was pretty "black" time--neither being a slave nor being in prison for something he didn't do would be very pleasant, and I'm sure that even after he was raised up, it was a hollow victory without his family. I'm sure there were many days that he wondered when, if ever, his dreams would come true.

Those are good reminders for me. I've been in a bit of a black spell since March, which feels like a long time, but is nothing compared to the two years Joseph was in jail, or the many (maybe 20? just my guesstimate--several years in Potipher's house, 2 in jail, 7 years of plenty, some number less than seven years of drought) years of waiting to see his family.

It's one thing to know in your head that black is an important color in the tapestry of your life, and another to believe it in your heart when it's a long time coming.

Thanks, Lord that you are with us and that you weave it all together for good. I'm ready for another color, please.