And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

I am a very structured person.  I like organization...I like a plan....I tend to stay in the box.  (Ok, maybe not "tend to".....I do stay in the box.)  Not too long ago, I picked up the boys from school and Harper jumped in the car with a huge smile on his face!  The first thing he told me (before "Hey mom") was that Mrs. Stone picked him to be one of the Artists of the Week!  His artwork was chosen to go up on the school website!  He could not have been more excited!

Fast forward a week or two when Chris and I received an email from Mrs. Stone, with the subject "Harper's wonderful work of art."  All it said was "He did this just today!"  Then we saw his artwork and were beyond blown away.

Our plan was always that our kids would take piano lessons through 5th grade.  As musicians, Chris and I know how much learning piano benefits any instrument they play.  So, as planned, both boys started piano in 1st grade.  Warren stuck to the plan and took lessons through 5th grade.  As he started playing percussion this year, in middle school band, we decided it would only help him, so he continued to take lessons.  Meanwhile, Harper, who is only in 3rd grade, still had a couple of years to go with piano.  Until the email from Mrs. Stone.  It was that email that made us rethink our plan.  

After much discussion, we sat the boys down and had a family meeting.  Not that he needed a reminder, but we reminded him of our deal to take lessons through 5th grade.  Then told him that if he wanted to stop lessons and focus on percussion, we'd be good with that.  Let's just say there was no discussion needed.

With that, Harper said "So, does that mean I can stop piano lessons too?"  I realized that, while having a plan is a good thing....it's also a good thing to adjust your plan sometimes.  You see, Chris and I lived in a musicians' box and we expected our boys to live inside that same box.  Instead, what if (wait for it), we opened our box.  And, instead of expecting Harper to live in our box...what if we opened our box and tried living in his art box.  So we told Harper that he could stop piano lessons.  His immediate response "So now can I go to ArtCentric?"

ArtCentric is an amazing locally owned children's art studio we learned about from our church.  Each month, they offer fun after school classes for kids.  We signed him up and each week he came home smiling and excited, something we hadn't seen when he was taking piano lessons.  And, not only was he having fun....but slowly, our box was opening as we learned art appreciation.  Harper taught us about different artists and art styles.  Go ahead, ask me about Jackson Pollock?

Isaiah 11:6 says "...and a little child shall lead them."  Surely Harper is leading us....teaching us that sometimes it's good to get out of your box, right?  And even if you stay in your own box, it's good to appreciate the boxes of others!