‘Diversity’ is a strong and powerful word.
Googling the word ‘Diversity’ brings in an Oxford Dictionary definition stating that diversity is what makes each of us unique, with factors including background, personality, life experience and belief; all of the things that make us who we are.
My grandchildren, at ages 3 and 5, have a simple definition of diversity:
It’s all the colors in the rainbow 🌈 and all the colors in between.
Years ago, when my niece was three years old, she wanted to know why were there so many different colors of children in her military school‘s classroom. Her mother – my sister – answered, “Because God made children different colors.”
My niece then said, “God did not ask me what color I wanted to be.”
My sister told her that God did not have to ask her because it was His choice, and that God loves all the children of the world regardless of their color. My niece was completely satisfied with the answers to her questions. These innocent questions and responses can change childrens’ lives as they grow into adults.
Because of COVID -19, I’ve had the pleasure of spending many hours with my grandchildren. These hours were and continue to be special. I read to them. I tell them stories. I watch their shows with them: Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Frozen, etc. I plant vegetable and flower seeds with them, and I bake blueberry muffins with them. In between those things I get a “Grandma, I loved you, you are the best grandma in the whole world!” I pray in silence and ask God to please take care of my grandchildren, because someday they will learn the woes of the world.
There are special times I have spent with them, and below I share the one that inspired me to create the Unity and Community Collection in the Liz Daniel Emporium on Zazzle to celebrate diversity, equality, unity, personal freedom, community pride, and most of all, LOVE!
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Bedtime is one of the most special times I spend with my grandchildren. On this night, they climbed into my bed claiming their positions, and asked me to sing ‘the God song.’
I sang a stance about the greatness of God, and sang that God is a good God. I sang, “Jesus loves all the little children of the world. They are all precious in His sight, red, yellow, black and white, they are all precious in His sight.”
I sang the line a second time, and my granddaughter asked, “What about the brown children?” I sang the line again and included the brown children. They’ve been learning the primary and secondary colors and the color of the rainbow, and my grandson chimed in, “Grandma, the rainbow children – red, blue, yellow, purple, orange, indigo, green, and all the children the colors of the rainbow!”
I sang the stance again. This time I let them add the colors of the children. I heard red, blue, yellow, black, white, green, orange, and a big, yelled-for “brown!” They curled their arms in a vise grip around me and with their little faces close to mine begged, “Grandma sing it again!” I felt so blessed as they dropped off to sleep!
My Wish for the World
These diversity designs and captions on my products are dedicated to all the children of the world, in hopes that, from childhood through to adulthood, they will live in an environment of freedom, where they are judged by their characters, and not the color of their skins or their choices in who they love. I pray that no one brings harm to them or causes them to be ashamed because of their colors – all the colors of the rainbow and all the colors in between. May they pursue their dreams, have an open heart ♥ and give a helping hand to others. May they have love for others, never express hate towards others, and always be a child at heart!
Liz Daniel Emporium 