“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.”

Matthew‬ ‭21:28-30‬ ‭KJV‬‬

So today, I went to the Renaissance Festival with my family. It was about seven hours of fun, walking, and shopping. One of my favorite things was the different artwork and mediums art was shown through. My mom liked the art too. She particularly favored the artist Dan Thompson, who created pages of black and white bookmarks.

Now you should know something about my mom. She is a colorful person. When asked what color she wants the house, she said yellow, bright sun yellow. She loves her colors. So, can you guess what my mom asked me to do when we got home?

Color the bookmarks!

At first, I sighed in weariness. I was tired, wet from rain, and walking for about six-ish hours took a toll on my body. So I said I could do it tomorrow.

Well, Mom asked my siblings to color the bookmarks too. They jumped at the chance. One did a simple cute panda pair bookmark. The others did dragons and mermaids. But all of them needed my fancy colored pencils to do it. Begrudgingly, I went downstairs and got my pencils. As I watched everyone start I realized something:

My mom asked me to do this believing I could. Even though I wasn’t at my best she believed I could do it. At least one.

With a deep breath, I took a bookmark and started coloring. It was a hard and long piece because I chose an angel (she had a bow!). I needed to take a break and watch the fireworks (Happy 4th of July!). Then I went back to coloring the bookmark. Two hours later, the bookmark was colored and my mom loved it. I was still tired and sore, but more than that, I felt accomplished.

In the parable of the two sons, the first son repented saying no. He didn’t feel guilty or jealous when the father asked the second son. He saw his wrong and turned towards his father’s will. I saw the wrong in putting off work and turned towards my mom’s belief.

Following God isn’t an obligation. It’s a relationship. Every choice and every second is a chance to turn towards God. Life may convince you to say no (“Do this,” “You HAVE to do that,” “You can’t,”). But you can always turn back to God and do His will. He’s waiting for you.