“Serving overseas as a small-town boy in America has been intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
—Matt
Furry Christmas Gift
My shoes were always checked and shaken up when I was a child. They were then put on in the winter. My shoes were sometimes used as sleeping bags by mice. My grandpa once milked a cow and then suddenly he began to dance and run around. The little baby mice living in the barn’s roof above his head started to fall from their nest. They fell right down the back of his shirt collar, down his back, and were squirming around & stuck in his overalls.
Living abroad has meant that you have to park your vehicle in a underground parking lot. All the extra junk that doesn’t fit in the little apartment goes in that little storage space.
One time, as I was going down to our car, I found liquid under it. I lifted the hood to find that the brake fluid line was cut in half. On showing the mechanic, he said, “Oh, that was a rat! They will chew through anything and have teeth of steel.” We fixed the brake fluid line and I never thought more of it.
Later, when I had to get Christmas decorations out of my storage space and organize them properly, I went through all the boxes and found some interesting items. I was surprised to find that the contents of one of my boxes had been opened and rearranged. I discovered the furry culprit towards the bottom. It was a large, dead furry rat. I concluded that his brake fluid was what had sent him to the cardboard casket.
It is bad for spouses to keep secrets from each other. However, I didn’t tell my wife that a rat was at rest in a box with her favorite family Christmas ornaments. I don’t think she could see Grandma’s ornaments hanging on the Christmas tree, without thinking about the rat if she knew.
I’d guess barns and stables and garages haven’t changed purpose that much. These are places we use every day to store our stuff. However, they can also attract unwanted critters. The Bethlehem stable was home to many of these unwanted critters, which is a testimony to the humility of our Messiah King, who came to save us.
Has something like this ever happened to you? Let me know if you have any questions!
[email protected] Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741
