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Jane Wheeler

What's in the Box?


I was talking with my youngest son the other day he had had one of those days.

He is the son with broken wrist at the moment and in a cast – they had to rebuild his wrist and while it is miraculous what they can do, let’s just say it is still an “ouch” when he has to use it.

He is trying to sell his house so he thought while it is hot out (does not live here) he would buy an air conditioner and cool the upper floor while people go through the house for their viewing.

He bought a portable air conditioner and hauled it home, those things are not light weight items. He found that using those plastic straps around the box he was able to somewhat carry/haul the large box off the truck and up the stairs with his one good arm. He said it was not easy but he got it up there after exuding a lot of energy.

He opened the box to find an ugly old used brown portable air conditioner covered with dog hair.

Now the box looked new, the plastic straps and everything, but inside someone had replaced the new air conditioner with their old one, meticulously put the box back together and taken it back to the store for a refund. Someone had pulled a fast one on the store and obviously on my son.

Now my son when he discovered this monstrosity in the box – expelled a few vented words and then had to figure out how to get this thing back down the stairs and into his truck without the straps – one handed.

He says he did it but “easy” was not the word he used. He got back to the store and then had to convince the store that he was not the one trying to rip them off.

Exasperated and incredibly he looked at the store manager who had to be called over and waved his broken one arm at him explaining that hauling that thing back up the stairs and then back down the stairs and back into his truck and back into the store was not anything that he would do voluntarily at this point.

Well he got the old icky one exchanged for a new one and then had to drag that one home again.

He was really mad at the whole series of events and was sharing this story with me with gusto – but I just started to laugh; at first at the audacity of people to pull off something like that and second at the thought of that old icky air conditioner covered with dog hair.

I apologized to my son that I was laughing because I would have been just as mad and I have two good arms, but it was just so “bizarre” to me that people do these things. By the time we ended the call he was laughing as well. It was one of those really great stories that can just be passed on for the telling.

Well this whole thing got me thinking of an analogy – how do you know what’s inside the box? The outside can look brand new, and really good from the outer perspective. But when you open the box and find old “stuff”.

What about people – how do we act at home, where no public eye can see us, or when we get stressed and worried and cannot figure out life, or as last week’s blog – cannot figure out, at all, the world around us – what comes out of our box – the old stuff or the new? Is our bent to go to worry and fear?

Have we really been able to put our trust in the fact that God’s got this? Or do we fuss, fume and worry about stuff that we really cannot change on our own? I like to think that I am trusting God with everything, but if I am honest with you and myself – I fuss, fume and worry way too much over things.

Just like that old air conditioner – I want the box (outside) to appear “new” but I think sometimes I am more like the new exterior, filled with the old ugly brown air conditioner covered with dog hair – not really “new” at all. I am actually relieved that God does not leave us in our ugliness – He encourages us to grow, learn and mature into people who become more like Him.

Philippians 1:6 New International Version (NIV)

“being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God’s not finished with any of us - yet.

***Reminder - tomorrow is Teen Burger Day at ALL A & W's across Canada in support of MS (mutliple sclerosis) - go get one!

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