“Wow, mommy, look! The box fits a human!”
In my quest over the last week to super-organize my house (aka control what I could control), I bought some plastic drawers. They came in three large, sturdy cardboard boxes. As the boys watched someone load them into the back of the car, they were instantly curious. “Mommy, look at those big boxes! Can we help you take them inside?” they asked over and over again all the way home.
When we got home, I piled the boxes in the corner of the room to wait until the weekend to open them. However, as I sat at my computer working, over and over again I saw one five year old after the other pop in the room to stare wide-eyed at the boxes. “Go play!” I told them. “But mom, when are you going to OPEN them?” they kept asking. “Now?….What about now?”
Finally, I gathered them both together and reminded them: “There is nothing special in those boxes, it’s just plastic drawers.” Still they looked eagerly from me to the boxes as I spoke. “Oh!” I finally said. “You don’t care what’s inside? You just want the boxes?” They both nodded enthusiastically and asked again, “So will you open them RIGHT NOW?”
I got out some scissors and carefully opened the boxes to take out the drawers. In the end there were three empty large, brown boxes remaining. They immediately ran off with them. A minute later, I heard one twin exclaim, “Wow, mommy come look! The box fits a human!”
This morning as I’m looking back at the photos of two tiny humans who placed themselves in boxes and thought it was the absolute greatest thing ever… I’m taking in the purity of that moment.
I’m realizing that despite how complicated everything is right now – uncomplicated moments still do exist and might just have a lot to say to us.
So my prayer for you and for me this morning is that the image of two kids in cardboard boxes giggling uncontrollably stays with us. May we join in their laughter and allow this one moment of pure grace renew us.
And may God remind us that sometimes we have to put aside what is in the boxes we carry and just concentrate for a moment on the containers themselves. They may hold more clarity than we know.
