The Color of Miracles

James McBride wrote a book called "The Color of Water." The book describes itself as a black man's tribute to his white mother. During her life she was married to two black men and had twelve children. She raised these children in poverty, often being the only white person in the neighborhood. By the author's desciption, none of the children looked like his mother and he, himself, had a hard time believing this white woman was his own mother because they did not have the same color skin. The title of this book is derived when the son asks his mother the color of God, and his mother replies ‘The color of water’.

I absolutely love this book for so many reasons, but mostly because of this response; it connects with me.

I was again reminded of this wise woman's words as I watched more than a hundred children and their families play at the annual pediatric heart picnic this past weekend. Fairfax hospital hosts an picnic each fall to bring the cardiac kids and the surgeons together for a reunion - it's pretty incredible. Every race, culture, and socioeconomic background is represented at this gathering. Keep in mind that most of these heart procedures cost between a quarter of a million and a half of million dollars to perform. (This is Dr. Shen, the surgeon who repaired Bodie's heart)

All I could think as I looked at these little kids faces was the color of miracles is like the color of water. God offers miracles to every one of his children - and we've been lucky to receive more than our fair share.