Reading Facebook earlier today, one friend posted that she’d hidden a Christmas gift so well that even SHE couldn’t find it! I’ve done that. Have you?
When the pole in the master bedroom closet gave way at a parsonage we were living in, I realized two things. One...we must have had too many clothes. Two...the way it ripped away drywall where the shelving was mounted was going to make it pretty hard for me to repair.
You see, I’m the fixer-upper around our house. Shadowing my daddy for so many years gave me some knowledge of tools and minor repairs, so when something needs fixing...I’m your girl! Plumbing under the sink clogged up? I can fix that. Shelves need to be mounted? I can do that. Re-wiring a lamp? Yes. Wallpaper? Be glad to!
I couldn’t help but get a little tickled recently when my hubby noticed that our mailbox door wouldn’t close and asked, “Do you think you can fix that?” And so I fixed it. It isn’t that he doesn’t know how to do things like that...it’s just that he has so many things to do in ministry (and I love to do small repairs)...it’s a no-brainer. I’m the handy-man at our house!
My sister, Vangie, would save little things for me to do for her on my many visits. Her husband was handy, but there were some things she decided she wanted me to do for her. She’s been in Heaven for almost a year and I miss hearing her call me “Butch” whenever she had a job for me to do!
But I digress...
Getting back to the closet mess: I did what any good pastor’s wife would do. I called the head of the Parsonage Committee who quickly dispatched one of the church trustees to come take a look at the problem.
Before the trustee arrived, I dutifully picked up all the clothes that were on the closet floor and cleared out all the shoes we had in there, when I noticed a big bag from K-Mart. Not thinking it was anything I shouldn’t look at, I opened the bag and found a pancake griddle! I got so excited because I needed a new one. Then I realized I’d just found my Christmas present from my husband. It was October, and he’s pretty good about shopping early.
I’d ruined his surprise.
What should I do? Open it on Christmas morning and tell him how surprised I was to get a griddle? Confess to him that I found it and then have breakfast for dinner?
I called him at his office and told him I’d found the gift.
Joe: What gift?
Me: You know...my Christmas gift.
Joe: Your Christmas gift?
Me: Yes, the pancake griddle. I’m so sorry. I was emptying the closet floor and saw the bag, opened it, and realized I was messing up your surprise.
Joe: Pancake griddle? Pancake griddle. Pancake griddle. Hmmm...
Me: (waiting during a long pause)
Joe: Oh yeah, I remember now! The pancake griddle! But it isn’t your Christmas gift. It was your Mother’s Day gift. I forgot to give it to you!!!
We had breakfast for supper that night. Happy Mother’s Day to me!
“If you have a pulse, then you have a purpose. Make your life count!”
