Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Janice Bumbalough Marler

December 15, 2007

                                                                 The Iron       

By Janice Bumbalough Marler

A friend of mine had a new house built two years ago in an upscale neighborhood.   Her garage was full of boxes that needed unpacked so my daughter, who lives in the same town, helped her with that difficult task.  They organized everything from the garage to the basement.  I don’t know a woman on earth that has enough cabinet space, but this new house had everything, including enough cabinets and to include that ‘special place’.

If you have any age on you whatsoever, you are aware of that ‘special place’.  (That place where you put things that you don’t want to lose).  The only problem with ‘special places’ is locating it.  For the sake of privacy I will call my friend Erika.  Erika had filled her house with ‘new’.   I love the way ‘new’ smells don’t you

She had purchased an iron and put it in that ‘special place’. I’m not certain when she purchased it, but I know it was before my second visit.  My first visit was shortly after she moved into her new home.  My stay was brief, just a couple of days.  I wasn’t concerned about pressing my clothes because everything was casual ware.  This year I made the long trek, from North Carolina to Ohio, via Delta Airlines.  One would have thought I had planned to stay for a month with the amount of clothes I packed.  Some of the clothes were new and made of cotton.  I like cotton but it requires ironing; I’m not crazy about ironing, but I just don’t do wrinkled.

Erika couldn’t locate the irons ‘special place’.  We looked everywhere for it.  She even had the women that clean her house look for it.  It was un-locatable.  She was so frustrated she decided to go to Wal-Mart and purchase another one.   The new iron had digital settings.  

I took it out of the box, unwrapped it, used the filtered water from her refrigerator, and read the book on how to use the plus and minus buttons.  On both sides of the iron I saw four white tabs, two at the top and two at the bottom.  I knew, from past experience with Erika, that I needed to be cautious of her possessions.   I don’t know about other people, but I am extremely respectful of other people’s property.  I didn’t want to touch the white tabs for fear of ruining her new iron

The digital settings go from number ‘1’, being the highest setting, to number ‘7’ being the lowest setting.   The iron was reading ‘7’ for Linen.  I didn’t want linen; I wanted cotton.  I pressed the minus side to get the desired setting, but the iron still read ‘7’ Linen.

Although the steam was working, the iron was not gliding as smoothly as it should have.  I called Erika into the bedroom.  She opened the book and began reading it.  “It says to use tap water.  “Where did you get the water you put into the iron?” “Out of the refrigerator just like you told me to.”  We went into the kitchen, emptied the water, and filled it with tap water.  “Did you read the book?”  “Yes, I did.”  “Let me try it

Erika lay down on the bed and began reading the book again.  She got up, took the iron in hand and tried the same things I had tried.  She was getting frustrated.  .  She was going to take the iron back the following day and exchange it!   How dare Wal-Mart sell her a defected iron! 

I went back into the kitchen to get something when I heard her laughing.  She called me back into the bedroom.  Erika was laughing so hard that she had her arms folded over her waist and was bent double.  Tears were running down her face.  Erika has red hair and her face was as red as her hair.  “What’s so funny?”  “Did you read the part that says, ‘Remove paper before ironing’?”  I lifted up the iron and saw a sheet of white paper covering the plate.  The paper had bubbles on it from the steam.  I began laughing too.  “So that’s what the white tabs were for.”  When Erika lifted the blue film, protecting the digital reader off, she laughed even harder than she did the first time. (The film that read ‘Linen #7’).  There wasn’t anything wrong with the iron at all, but there was with two fairly intelligent people trying to use it.  I like to think of us as Lucy and Ethel.  It’s dangerous when you put the two of us together.

(Post Script):  Erika still has not located the first iron she bought.  It’s still in that ‘special place’.

Several years ago I sold a piece of my artwork to a co-worker on the police department.  The check had been written for one-hundred dollars.  This is 2007 and I have yet to find that ‘special place’. I went to the new owner of the painting and asked him if the check had been cashed.  He told me that the check had not been uttered.   As a police officer, I suspected that someone might have stolen it.  After a reasonable amount of time I went back to him.  It still had not been uttered.  I told him to cancel the check; he could have the painting.  It was my fault because I had been so careless with the note.

When we become Christians, we are like new babies.   New babies always have a sweet aroma.  I don’t know about you, but I like that redolence.  We become unwrapped and are ready to use those new talents God gave us when we became Christians.  Some new Christians, even older Christians, have placed those talents in those ‘special places’ where they draw no interest.  When it comes time to use the talents God so freely gave, they can’t be found.   As Christians we belong to God.  We are his chosen vessels, and it’s up to us to take care of these vessels.  No one puts their light under a bushel where it can’t be seen. 

We never know who is waiting for us to share what God has so freely given us, just like Erika shared her new iron with me.  There are those who walk on the broad way to destruction who wait for us to fall on our faces, “And you call yourself a Christian?” or “See, I knew you weren’t a Christian.”  The way to heaven is narrow and few find it.

Matthew the 7^th chapter.       Verses 13 and 14

There are joys in Christ that can’t be understood by those who are in the world.  Christ is the Christians joy, their confidant, their King.  He is a loving and forgiving God.   But the most important gift from God was Christ His only son.  He died for us and for our sins. 

I don’t want to be a Sunday Christian, but an everyday Christian.  It’s important that we read the ‘Instruction Manual’ in order to know how to live.  When we fall, it just takes a simple ‘I’m sorry Father.”   We get back up and have a go at it again.  He knows we aren’t perfect.  He is so full of grace; it’s beyond our comprehension.   There are those who go Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights and never open ‘The Instruction Manual’.  How do we know those that are preaching from the pulpits are telling us the truth unless we read ‘The Instruction Manual’.

Many years ago, I was singing in my shower songs from ‘The Sound of Music’.  Our shower was located in the front of our house facing the street.   A couple of years had passed when a young lady, living across the street, invited me to go with her to the ‘Miss Dayton Ohio’ pageant.  This young lady was one of the contestants.  She began studying music and wanted me to hear her on stage.  She told me it was my singing that prompted her to take voice lessons.  I had no idea anyone was listening to me sing..  It’s the same way with planting God’s seeds.  We never know where our seed may fall and what kind of crop they will produce.

When we open ‘The Instruction Manual’ and read God’s word, we change.  Actions speak louder than words I’ve been told.  “I’d rather see a sermon any day than hear one.”  The world is watching us.  We influence people when we don’t think anyone is watching how we live our lives.  They watch the way we walk and the way we talk.

If I had used Erika’s new iron without reading the manual, I’m certain it would have turned out much worse than it did.  It was apparent I hadn’t read all the instructions; else I would have known to ‘remove all the paper’.  It’s the same when we read God’s ‘Instruction Manual’.  We can’t read some of the scriptures and slide over others.  In order to get the full benefit of God’s words we need to read the whole manual, His words, inspired of the Holy Spirit, are for our instructions.   The Bible is the only instruction manual we have.

Don’t let God’s book gather dust.  If you don’t understand it, find someone that is well versed in the scriptures to assist you.   You will be amazed how it will change your life.

Once we removed all the papers from the iron it worked the way the manufacturer intended it to work.

Janice Bumbalough Marler

poetrybyjan@nc.rr.com