What might have been...

A mother and her daughter loaded the last of the baskets and boxes into their van. Pulling out of the parking lot, they headed downhill to a red light. The mother listened as a laundry basket tipped and the contents slid out.

“Oh great,” she said. Now what? Should I try to pull over and fix the box? Traffic was already moving.

She glanced at the basket in the rear-view mirror. Wait—was it moving? Another quick glance—yes, it slowly began to right itself. Wow-- this is great! Something is making it tip upright. She stopped thinking about it for a moment as she focused on traffic. It slowly sank down, and stuff started to slide out again.

Oh no! How long will it take to pick up all of that stuff that spilled? Was that my favorite flower vase that just slid out? Did it crack? Why did I put it in that basket?

Again she looked in the mirror, and once again the box was tipping upright. Wait a minute…I get it now—every time I worry about the box, it tips up and gets closer to its original spot. She quickly thought of more things to worry about. Would more stuff fall out? Was there any liquid in there? Why didn’t I pack everything in covered boxes? Why didn’t I just put those boxes on the floor in the front. Next time—

Hey—the basket was again upright and everything was back inside! The worrying had worked!

********************

What really did happen…

A mother and her daughter loaded the last of the baskets and boxes into the van. Pulling out of the parking lot, they headed downhill to a red light. The mother listened as a laundry basket tipped and the contents slid out.

“Oh great,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it—it’s already happened,” her daughter said.

The mother laughed and thought about her comment. The event was over. No liquid was spilling, no one was hurt, and there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. No amount of mental gymnastics was going to put that basket back in its upright position. Instead of spending the next three miles twisting it around in her mind, she let it go and spent an enjoyable ride talking and laughing with her daughter.

It’s good for us to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we need to replay things in our minds to picture how we would do something differently next time. But how much of our brain power do we use to worry about insignificant things, and how much time do we waste repeatedly going over them in our minds? Fretting or worry can consume great amounts of both. What else could we be doing with our thoughts or with our time? Thank you, Lord, for using a laundry basket to remind us to include You in all parts of our thought lives, and to be careful with the time that You have given us today.


Colossians 3:2