OUTSIDE THE BOX

From the start of my life I have always thought outside of the box. Sometimes I get amazing results from this ability, but at other times it has gotten me into quite a bit of trouble.

As a small child we lived in the little town of Mobeetie Texas, located in the Texas panhandle. It was a time when people didn’t lock their doors unless they were going to be gone for a week or two.

On one sultry day while playing outside, I ran into the house to retrieve the jar of cold water kept in the refrigerator by Momma. As I tugged the door of the refrigerator open I was met by a cold blast of air. It was a wonderful respite to the hot summer day. As I downed my glass of water I began to worry about our mamma kitty, Sugar. I had seen her lying under the lilac bush and she had looked miserable; after all she was wearing a fur coat. I wondered how she was holding up in the heat.

Lying on the couch with legs draped over the end while the swamp cooler blew across my body seemed the only answer to the heat. I laid there and pondered the problem of Sugar and the heat. Momma would never allow Sugar to come in and lay on the couch with me. I felt a little twinge of guilt as I enjoyed the cool.

And then thoughts began to arise from deep within the recesses of my mind…..I knew the answer to Sugar’s blistering hot day. I jumped off the couch, flung open the front door and headed to the lilac bush where Sugar was sleeping. I grabbed her up much to her surprise and ran in the house and deposited her in the refrigerator. I again took up my position on the couch, this time swinging my legs to and fro with a self-satisfied feeling all about me.

After a while Momma announced, “Come on girls, we’re headed out to pick apricots.” We loaded in the car with Melinda and I doing our usual giggling thing as we fought over who would set where.

We arrived home several hours later and were met at the door of our house by some friends who had come in from out of town to visit. As I ran to play with Melinda, Momma called out, “Monalea, could you come here please?” I pivoted on my toe and ran back into the living room. “Yes Momma,” I said with wide eyed innocence. “Monalea, when Sonny came in today he opened the refrigerator looking for something to eat and out jumped the cat right into his arms. Do you know why the cat was in there?” “Oh yes Momma,” I said with a hit of brilliance in my voice, “Sugar was so hot, so I put her in there to cool her off.” I would spend the next several years wondering how she had known to ask me about the cat and not Melinda.

Matthew 18:3 “And He said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”