When I decided to pursue a seminary education people began to give me a lot of advice. I was told what books to read, what books not to read, professors that I had to meet, classes that I need to take; everywhere I turned someone was giving me advice. Little did I know the best advice would come not from my pastor or a recent seminary graduate, but from a little boy who thinks a bulldozer is the best car someone could drive.

            One Wednesday night I was headed to church to teach the preschool missions class. On that particular Wednesday I was thinking about how exhausting seminary was and wondering if I would ever graduate. As I walked into the classroom filled with energetic three-year-olds I wondered how I would make it through the semester with my sanity still intact. While we were coloring cards for people who were sick, all the children were excitedly telling me what they were going to be for Halloween. Harris had been busily coloring and not paying much attention to the conversation. Out of nowhere Harris looked up at me, smiles, and said, “Miss Lauren, if you stop coloring you’ll never finish.” Harris then proceeded to finish making his card.

In seminary we are constantly talking about all the problems in the world today, yet we rarely have a solution. It’s easy to get bogged down with the weight of the world on your shoulders. But if you stop and don’t at least try, nothing will happen and you won’t be able to make a difference. On the way home that Wednesday night I realized just how right Harris was. If I stopped working and searching for the right answers, I would never finish.

So my advice for not only seminary students, but also for everyone is if you stop coloring, you’ll never finish.