Have you ever been really, really thirsty? Most of us can remember feeling like you could spit cotton balls or as my husband likes to say, “I’m so thirsty I could suck a mop!”. It struck me this morning before I had my coffee that I was thirsty, which is unusual first thing in the morning for me. I love coffee but this morning I needed something cold to quench my thirst. After I drank my cup of Joe, I decided a nice glass of ice tea would be great.
As I hunted for the pitcher, I recalled a story my Mom likes to tell that makes me relive a day much like those we have been experiencing this summer, HOT! The only air conditioning to be found, in those days back in the 50s, was at the S. S. Kresge store down town.
It was wash day and as usual mom had been running up the basement stairs all day to get the washing done for our family of six. Down the stairs she would go to her wringer washer, run the clothes through the wringer and then out side to hang them on the clothes lines. Back in the house to fold, then gather another load of clothes to start the whole process again. Whew! Makes me tired thinking of it. She would fix a big glass of ice tea to refresh herself, drink a few sips and down the long flight of stairs she would traipse again.
On this particular day, as the story goes, every time she would return to her iced tea it would be gone! My brothers and I would help ourselves to the sweet tea in her absence leaving her with only the empty glass. After several times, finding the glass empty this clever woman “hatched” a plan!
She called all four of us into the house, poured a giant glass of the tea and asked us if we were thirsty. To which we all replied in the positive.
“Do you want a glass of tea?”
“Yeah”, we all said in unison!”
“ Okay”, she said, "you can have it after you run up and down the stairs four times". That didn’t seem like such a big deal for our young little legs to do so we gladly agreed.
Up and down we went, one time, two times, three time and finally four times. We ran to the table where my mom sat as she was taking her last swallow of tea.
“Oh”, she explained, “you guys took so long and I was so thirsty I drank the whole thing.”
Only slightly winded, and sorely disappointed we listen as my mom gave us another chance to "win" a glass of that amber liquid that made the ice cubes dance as it rushed into the big glass.
With the glass filled again, she told us if we could make three more trips up and down the stairs and out to the back yard where the clothes lines were she would have the tea waiting. Again we began our counting! One time, two times, three times and then out to the clothes lines!
Running back to the kitchen on our tired little legs, to collect our reward, again we found our mother tipping the glass and then rattling the cubes to show us that unfortunately the tea was gone again. This time our small group groaned as we collapse to the floor, not at all hiding our disappointment.
“You guys look so tired and thirsty she taunted, I bet you were really looking forward to that drink weren’t you?”
“Yes”, we moaned!
“Have you noticed how many times Mommy has gone up and down those stairs today?”
Silence!
“Can you imagine how thirsty I am when I get back to the kitchen?”
“Pining over our own situation, we reply,"Yeah”, still not seeing the connection!
“I bet you have noticed that I usually have a glass of cool, sweet, ice tea waiting for me."
Now with “deer in the headlights look” uh huh!
“Did you all enjoy my tea?"
Each head nodded not knowing that we had just entered our guilty plea.
As she poured each of a glass of cold, sweet tea there was no need to explain, the lesson had been learned. Thanks Mom!
Have you ever been thirsty for God? Since my physical thirst was on my mind, I began to think of my spiritual thirst and all of the times “thirst” is in the bible. A term we can all understand and have felt at times in our lives. But as I looked through my old hymnal today I came across a song that caught my eye, Ho! Every One That Is Thirsty . (Who starts a sentence with Ho!?) There are great words, and to us oldies we can also remember the melody.
REFRAIN:“I will pour water on him that is thirsty; I will pour floods upon the dry ground. Open your heart for the gift I am bringing, while ye are seeking Me. I will be found.”
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
Now where did I put that pitcher? Oh, Mom my psychiatrist said Hi!
No comments:
Post a Comment