A Tale of Two Suitcases
When Ray and I were visiting with Tom and Dot a few weeks ago, we compared notes about Alaska. Ray’s and my trip to Alaska last August was our first and only cruise. We usually travel by car and handle our own suitcases, so he and I both found it a bit unnerving to turn in our suitcases, knowing they were going to end up in a pile that looked something like this:
As Tom and Dot were standing on dry ground near their cruise ship one day, Dot noticed a cart of suitcases starting to roll closer and closer to the bay. Suddenly in it fell — kersplash! An attendant quickly jumped into the water and began to retrieve them. Dot watched and hoped that hers and Tom’s were not among them.
Tom and Dot went to their room, as did Tom’s brother and sister-in-law (I’ll call them Joe and Vivian) who were their traveling companions. Soon cruise ship personnel arrived at their doors with wet suitcases. An attendant opened the suitcases in front of them to examine the condition of what was inside.
In Dot’s words, Joe and Vivian “dressed like Texans.” She said they wore matching outfits that included perfectly-ironed shirts. Inside Joe and Vivian’s wet suitcase were neat stacks of perfect clothes, perfectly-ironed and folded. The attendant commented on it being one of the neatest suitcases they had ever seen.
Then came Tom and Dot’s turn to have their wet suitcase opened. Guess which suitcase had fallen into the water — the one into which they had been stuffing their dirty laundry!
Appearances are just that — appearances. Our lives and the lives of people we know (and the lives of our children) appear to be in a jumble sometimes. Sometimes those jumbles are for a very good reason. Before we fall into the temptation to criticize the jumble, let’s be people (and mothers) of grace, realizing that we just might not know the reason why. Let’s also be people who care enough to find out those reasons.
But the Lord said to Samuel, . . .
“for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
Thank you for this – I needed the reminder today. Our lives have been in a jumble for a while now and it frustrates me as I’m a mom who needs an organized plan. But looking at the reasons for the jumble; we know we have been doing what our Father desired us to be doing over the last year.
In God’s will is the only place to be, no matter how jumbled we may look and feel. Bravo for choosing the better way. I’m glad the post reminded you of what you obviously know very well.