Changing Colors

Harper looked up when Mom closed her science textbook. "I think it's time for an experiment!" Mom said.Harper followed Mom into the kitchen, where Mom pulled out one of the white carnations from the vase on the kitchen table. "What's the experiment?" Harper asked."What did we just learn about today in science?" "We talked about how plants absorb water through a process called capillary action," Harper explained."Right! So now we're going to see that process in action." Mom handed Harper the flower. Following Mom's direction, Harper cut the stem of the flower at an angle. Then she filled a glass jar with water and added ten drops of red food coloring. Harper placed the flower in the water. "Now what?""Now we wait," Mom said.Harper watched the flower for a few minutes but left when nothing happened immediately. She forgot about the flower until she came down for breakfast the next morning. There, sitting on the table, was the carnation. But the carnation was no longer white. Instead, a rosy color tinged the edges of the petals. When Harper looked again at dinner, the color was even stronger. Harper checked on the flower each day for a week, watching as the red color became more defined."Well, what did you think?" Mom asked at the end of the week. "It was cool to watch the flower change color! If I hadn't known the carnation started off white, I never would have guessed the original color wasn't red!" Harper exclaimed. "The plant absorbed the water, and it changed from the inside out as it became red. It reminds me of what I learned at Bible club this week.""How so?" Mom asked."Well, Mrs. Dvorak told us that as Christians, Jesus lives in us. As His Spirit works in our hearts, we start changing from the inside out, just like the carnation. Eventually, others can see the difference more and more as we follow Jesus and show His love to others--like how I could see the red color becoming brighter with time.""I'm glad you're paying attention in Bible club and to my science lessons!" Mom grinned. "Maybe next time you'll have to be my teacher." - Olivia Summers