“Take out a sheet of manilla paper”, I heard Mrs. Kinsley say. Mrs. Kinsley is my Kindergarten teacher and today is my first day. I reach below the table and slide out the first page of a new pack. I also lifted out the brand-new box of 8 jumbo crayons. “Draw me a picture,” she said, “of anything you want, so I can get to know you.”

I like having new things, I thought. The crayons smell very good. The piece of paper looks giant on the table. I reach for the blue crayon, sniff it, then color a thin strip of sky across the top of the paper.  After that, with green, I hold it under my nose and breathe in its waxy goodness then color a strip of grass across the bottom of the page. Between the blue and green, I draw a giant flower. I do not know if that will help Mrs. Kinsley get to know me. I do know that is all I can think of right now.

That memory happened in 1979, 43 years ago. I was almost 6 years old.  To this day, I love to color. Also, I still really love the scent of Crayola crayons. I moved on from giant manilla paper to coloring books, but my go-to tools are the crayons with the smell that reminds me of childhood.

Why am I telling you about crayons? Fair question. That 8 pack of jumbo crayons came to mind this week. I thought about Mrs. Kinsley’s assignment. I have wondered time and again why I drew a flower instead of my family, our dog Cherie, or even our house. I imagine the reason had to do with the abundance of coloring surface and only 8 crayons. It felt like too large a task with too few tools.

Life feels like too large a task with too few tools, doesn’t it? My mind is often occupied with all the things I would like to do but feel unprepared and unqualified for. My go-to response, just like in kindergarten is to simplify. My job – easy, my décor – minimal, calendar – free, extracurriculars – few. Simple. Too simple.

Last week I cleaned the house. Once again, I was face to face with how much I have. To look at my life from the outside, it’s more like a 64 pack with the sharpener on the back of the box. I have a nice house, a great marriage, launched children, a job I don’t hate… lots of tools. Perhaps my problem is not a lack of tools, but an unwillingness to accept what I already have is enough to accomplish what I feel called to. I make excuses instead of progress. Am I the only one that does that?

In kindergarten, I did not consider my choice, to draw a simple flower, an effort to bail on the task. At 6, we don’t have higher reasoning powers. We do, however, want to do a good job. We want to please the adults around us. On that day, my best effort resulted in a giant flower. I have no memory of anyone being upset with my giant flower. Chances are, all interested parties thought it was precious. That is what we do when a kindergartener draws us a picture. We display it on our fridge door.

I know God appreciates our best efforts. He doesn’t expect perfection or even elaborateness. He even understands when we reach for the 8 pack of jumbo crayons when he knows we have a 64 pack with a sharpener on the box. He just wants us to love him and do what he asks of us. He will handle the rest.

In his first letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes:

     Brothers and Sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world – what is viewed as nothing – to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us – our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption – in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.   I Corinthians 1:26-31 (CSB)

From birth, it seems, we aspire to power, wisdom, strength, and significance. I want to be good at all the things, how about you? Aren’t the best stories, though, the ones we appreciate and remember, about the underdog?  Why is that?

In her book Walking On Water – Reflections on Faith & Art, Madeleine L’Engle says:

     But we are meant to be real and to see and recognize the real. We are all more than we know, and that wondrous reality, that wholeness, holiness, is there for all of us, not the qualified only.

The reason we cheer for the underdog is we identify with their odds. We identify with their need of a little help, extra grace, and unexpected provision. We recognize their crayons. We root for the ones most like ourselves. We do not need more tools. You and I, with our 8 packs of jumbo crayons, have all the qualifications we need. We are plenty special, and we are worthy, just like all the other underdogs.

God knows what each of us has to work with. As much as we aspire to all the adjectives that ideally impart success to the bearer, we are all the underdog. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is for us too. God is still in the business of using us broken people to bring himself glory. What is it God has called you to? Do you feel unprepared or unqualified? Know that God wouldn’t have whispered that thing to your soul if you weren’t the one for the job. I’m talking to myself here too. I think we can go for it, like kindergarteners with crayons. We can give it our best effort with what we have. God will provide a little help, extra grace, and unexpected provision.