So yesterday my family and I were running some errands around Kernersville. We dropped our van off at Alpha & Omega Auto run by a couple awesome guys who go to my church (and their both named Mike...even better). I dropped the van off, but this left us in a very peculiar and stressed filled situation...
...all three kids were in the back seat in easy reach of each other and only inches from my ears drums.
So as we drive down the street to do a few things while our spacious mini-van is being flushed, poked and proded my ears are bleeding from the constant screaming of "he hit me!", "she looked at me wrong", "she is translating ancient manuscripts on my forehead with a sharpie!" Ok, maybe that last one was a stretch, but by the point we got to our destination (McDonald's) I was ready to add myself to the value menu and get a ride out of there.
That's when life kicked it up a notch. As we pull into the parking lot my wife and I dive out of the car Bo and Luke style (another dated reference for you young'ens) ready to escape the small confines of our little Nissan. The problem was that Amy had our recently completed and nicely filed tax papers on her lap. So as she jumps to escape the car the folder falls to the ground and the wind that has been quite active decides to take a peek at our taxes - and chaos ensues.
All of a sudden I hear a scream - "MICHAEL! OUR TAXES!" I'm thinking that she found a clerical error when I look over and see our W2's trying to order at the drive through (they wouldn't get much). What appears to be a forest worth of paperwork is blowing all over the parking lot while me, Amy, my daughter Emily and a very helpful stranger (she had to have been an angel because anyone else would have just stood there and enjoyed the show) race around the parking lot stomping on papers and diving to keep the identity thief hiding in the bushes form getting our stuff.
After we collect all the papers (thank the Lord) I shove them underneath one of the seats in the car along side the stale goldfish crackers and milk stains where they will not move anymore. My wife and I look at each other and laugh because we don't want to cry in from of the kids (it's not a pretty sight) and we head into McDonalds for some playtime and dinner.
As I was thinking about this most insane experience I thought about the analogy I have heard many times and rings very true. When we gossip or start a lie about someone it is like releasing a thousand folders of tax papers into the wind. They go everywhere and even if you realize your error you can never get all the papers back - and the damage that has been done is many times irreversible. Consider what James 3:5 says,
"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."
May we be mindful of our words and what we say, because a lost W2 can cause more problems then intended.
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