Ask First
“My son, don’t forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commands.”
…Bella went over to Grandma and said "there is a big mess in the hall downstairs. Someone has left a box of pictures scattered all around." Grandma looked my way and asked, "Have you been in my things, Blizzard?"
I really enjoy our basement in the summer. It is nice all year round but in the hot summer it is cooler than anywhere else in the house. Down in our basement we have two bedrooms, a fun room and Grandpa's hunting den. In addition to the bedrooms with their closets we have two large walk-in closets in the hall.
A few days ago Grandpa was in his hunting area looking over a new hunting map. He found out the place where we planned to hunt had a giant forest fire, so he was researching a new location. As he pondered over the map, I noticed one of the hall closet doors was slightly open. I had been in it before, but never paid much attention to what was stored there. As I looked inside, I saw the boxes with all our Christmas decorations. I also saw a couple of musical instruments and a lot of books.
None of that interested me, but in the back corner of the closet, under the bottom shelf, was a closed box about the size of one that Grandpa's boots came in. Hmmm? I wondered what was in that box. I had never noticed it before; and the more I looked at it, the more I wondered. Since Grandma used and maintained the two closets, I was sure it was something she had put there. As I stared, my curiosity became greater and greater. That big box had caught my attention so I pulled it out and opened it up for investigation.
Right away I saw it was a collection of very old pictures. Many were black and white, but a few were color pictures. On top of the pile of pictures was what looked like a big notebook. I picked it up and started looking inside. It appeared that long ago there was a large church party somewhere. The people were all dressed up, especially some young men and women. One of the young ladies looked different than all of the rest. She wore a long white dress and had a long white cloth covering all of her hair. She was very pretty, but all of the ladies and young men were looking very nice.
After looking through that notebook I sat it aside determined to ask Grandma about it later. I went on through most of the pictures in the box and sat them aside in the hall. Mostly they were of people I did not know. The cars were nice but not like the ones we see on the highway where we live. I concluded that it all must have happened long ago and far away.
Suddenly I heard Grandma call my name. I got up and ran upstairs. "I am here Grandma. What do you need," I asked? "We are going to have lunch in a few minutes. I need you to wash up and get ready," she answered. Then. as I ran to the bathroom, I heard her ask Bella to go downstairs and get Grandpa.
I was at the table when Bella and Grandpa came back up. Grandpa went to the utility room to wash up, but Bella went over to Grandma and said "there is a big mess in the hall downstairs. Someone has left a box of pictures scattered all around." Grandma looked my way and asked, "Have you been in my things, Blizzard?"
"Yes Grandma," I replied a little sheepishly. "I do not think I was hurting anything. I will put them back soon." Grandma then said, "Blizzard you need to ask before you get into my closets. Some of the things I keep there cannot be replaced. They are very precious to me. After we finish lunch, you and I will go downstairs and pick up everything you have taken out of my box. We will put it all back just right. Someday soon we can all look over the pictures and I will explain them to you."
As Grandma was talking to me, Bertha, Bella and Cyclone were all seated at the table listening. All of us pillows were excited, and Bella asked when we could get together to see the book and other pictures. "Let's do it this afternoon," was Grandma's response.
Grandpa came in just at the end of our discussion.
After lunch, Grandma asked me if I was ready to go downstairs and put everything into the box which I had taken from it. When we got down on our knees to start replacing things, Grandma reminded me again, "Remember, Blizzy, to always ask first. You might lose things; or they might get damaged."
When we were finished and we were headed back upstairs with the box of pictures. I told Grandma that I had read a good lesson from Proverbs about remembering what your parents teach you. It came from Proverbs 3:1 "My son, don't forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commands."
I hope that verse of scripture is a good reminder for you too, dear friend.
From this short story, can you guess who the beautiful young lady in the long white dress was? It was a huge surprise for me!
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