The Perfect Kaleidoscope

We had 24 hours left in London. Other people might do some last-minute sightseeing, stop by a quaint tea room, or get one more glimpse of the queen’s horse guard before boarding an international flight home. But not us. We scurried the streets of London searching for…a kaleidoscope.

And not just any kaleidoscope. It had to be a hand-made-in-London-kaleidoscope. In other words, the cardboard kaleidoscope I purchased from a souvenir store around the block from the hotel did not cut it. It had to be a real kaleidoscope.

Is it worth the effort?

I was irritated my husband insisted on looking high and low for this toy to take back to our daughter for a couple of reasons. One – was McKinley’s request for a London kaleidoscope really that important? Two -we already bought souvenirs representing our travels. I mean, we had a stuffed bear from a castle, Henry VIII & wives Christmas ornaments, London Tower pencils, English chocolates, miniature palace guards, a red M&M with a fake bearskin hat from the London M&M store… When she sees the plethora of gifts, will she even remember asking for a kaleidoscope?

Regardless, Alan just had to find the perfect London kaleidoscope. He asked around until someone told him where to go. Then he took a cab clear across the city to buy a beautiful hand-made-in-London, brass and glass kaleidoscope. McKinley now had 2 kaleidoscopes…one to play with (from me) and one to keep for posterity (from Alan).

Daddy’s perfect gift.

Her cardboard kaleidoscope from me is long gone. She wore it out playing with it. But her daddy’s perfect gift sits in a special place in her bedroom. When I see it I can’t help but think of what a good daddy Mickey has. He went the extra mile so McKinley didn’t have to settle for the mediocre gift I found. What I purchased checked the box. But Alan wanted her to have more than that. He wanted her to have something real; authentic.

How often do we settle for “checking the box” rather than searching for what’s authentic? We are fortunate that God went above and beyond to give us what we didn’t know to ask for. Real salvation.

The kaleidoscope Alan bought for McKinley is beautiful. It is a 10-inch long brass cylinder with a small hole on one end and 2 wheels on the other. One wheel is glass, infused with colorful flecks and larger dollops of pigments. The other is glass, with circles, stars, and various other shapes. Both wheels, encompassed by thin brass bands rotate forward or backward, one, or both, for different configurations.

If you’re unfamiliar with a kaleidoscope you might mistake it for a small telescope or microscope, expecting the items on the end – the colors and shapes – to be magnified. However, magnification is not the goal of a kaleidoscope. A kaleidoscope presents simple shapes and colors in new and extraordinary ways.

More than mediocre.

When I’m tempted to see my life through a telescope, focusing on my struggles and failures, allowing those things to be magnified and fill me with shame, I reach for Alan’s gift to McKinley. I stare into the small hole and gently turn the wheels clockwise, then counterclockwise. I behold hues of radiant light that stream through the stained glass to create magnificent patterns in an array of unimaginable colors. It reminds me that God’s grace and mercy transform every stained part of my story into a kaleidoscope of redemptive love. I look forward to talking to McKinley about how her heavenly father’s gifts are a lot like her earthly father’s…more than mediocre. He went the extra mile to give us more than we knew to ask for!

The pieces of your story might be a colorful mess. But take heart – – don’t look at that mess through a telescope or a microscope. Allow God’s light to transform the turmoil and chaos into a kaleidoscope of beauty. And as you stand in awe of his hope, mercy, and grace, thank him for being such an excellent father.