My Happy Box by Michele Peck

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”  Psalm 133:1

Up until a couple of years ago, my in-laws wintered at a retirement park in Texas. Besides golfing, they both spent the winter months enjoying their hobbies. We have been the benefactors of many of their hobbies, but one thing, in particular, has special meaning to me. It is a wooden box with a design chip-carved into the lid and on the sides. The box always makes me smile because it reminds me of a visit Brad made to the retirement community one spring break. He said he was eating breakfast with his dad in the community center, when his dad said, “Brad, you see that man with gray hair over there?”  Brad looked around and said, “Dad, the only people in this room that don’t have gray hair, have no hair at all.”  Because my mother-in-law made me the box, and because it reminds me of a funny story, I decided to make it my “happy box.”  You’ve maybe heard of a happy box?  It is a box that holds things that make you happy, a box that saves you on a sad or lonely day.  

Recently, as you might imagine, I needed to take a look in my happy box. Several cards were in the box. A card from my brother that thanked me for being a warrior when my mom was in the hospital; a card from a student I had at William Jewell; and a few funny birthday cards where my friends had taken a picture of my head and glued it to various bodies. There were some funny notes from students reminding me of why I teach, like the one that thanked me for giving him a great “egicasion.”  I also found a heart-shaped rock and some sea glass from a trip Hope and I had taken to Rye Beach.

Then came some real treasures that went straight to my heart. I pulled out a handmade purse and coin purse that Amelia George made for me a few years back and presented to me at the Thanksgiving dinner, insisting that I wear it as a cross-shoulder bag that evening. There was a cardboard heart given to me by a Roma woman with whom I spent some time in Slovakia. A card from Nick Bartlow thanking me for serving on the Student Pastor Search Committee. A card from Angie Fuller reminding me that even though I had a lot on my plate, I am “one tough cookie” and can get through. There was a card from Luda Teterina encouraging me as a friend. A birthday card from Becky Starnes that led me to believe that a great person was born, destined to change the world, only to find out that it was not about me ... it was about Jesus.  A singing card from Viki Personett, given to me when I had the misfortune of getting a haircut that looked just like Joan Jett in the days when she sang “I Love Rock and Roll.”   A handmade bracelet that was given to me by Sue Wright on the evening of my Deacon ordination was in the box. And then some words from someone from 2BC with whom I had a misunderstanding, telling me that they loved me and that there was nothing that could happen to change that. Love, encouragement, and grace.

Do you see what I’m seeing?  Most of the things in my happy box come from my 2BC family. When I reflect on the quarantine, I think about how wonderful it is to be a part of such a great community—a community that continuously gives one another love, encouragement, and grace in the most difficult of times. It just makes me feel ... well, HAPPY!