Circles and Sticks

When I was almost four years old, my Mom began a book for me, Stories About Kristin. She wrote about things I did: "Kite Flying With Daddy"; "Daddy, Kristin, and Nosy (the dog) go boating in the pond"; "Kristin falls off her topsy-turvy tricycle, gets rocks in her head, and goes to the doctor." To go along with each story, I drew pictures of myself, my parents, and my dog.

As I grew older, I was embarassed by the way I had drawn the pictures in my storybook. People did not look like scribbles. They were made out of circles and sticks. I drew circles over the scribbles. I put lines sticking out of the people for arms and legs. My mom told me not to fix my pictures. "You drew those when you were younger," she said, "You will want to look back and see how you drew then." I quit fixing my scribble people. Soon, I realized that a person wasn't circles and sticks either, but I didn't change these people. I just drew new people differently. As I continued to mature, I was able to understand more clearly how to draw people.

In the same way, I matured in my understanding of Christianity. I can not pinpoint a "moment" I accepted Christ. I look at my faith development as a process. "I was raised to praise the living Lord, to whom I now belong." My understanding of Christ's death on the cross for my sins has grown and I have personalized it. For some people faith is a sudden transformation; for me it was gradually putting the pieces together and maturing, just like I did with my circle and stick people.

Now, I am writing a book with Sara about her experiences. She is the illustrator and she draws circle and stick people too. I am also teaching her about God and Jesus.

We go walking in the cemetary near our house with a friend who also has a daughter Sara's age. The girls have a ritual of touching a cross in the masoleum. "That's where Jesus died," Sara told me the other day. "Well, not here," I said, "It was on a big wooden cross but that cross reminds us that He died on the cross for us." She is gradually putting the pieces together too.