Packing A Suitcase

All of my grandchildren were here this weekend.
Except for the baby, who will be six months old soon, the six others go off and play together.
Of that group, two are boys.
They all play well together.

There are times when the girls would prefer if it was just the girls.
I thought of the No Girls Allowed Berenstain Bears book.
The parents encourage the children to play together and include everyone.
It is so enjoyable to listen to how they work things out.

During dinner, the children were sitting at the large farm table in the kitchen.
The adults were in the dining room.
Inevitably, the children are finished first and ask to be excused.
The adults linger to talk and catch up.

The children played down in the basement, upstairs, and in the family room.
There are many places to play and imagine.
Our littlest grandson, who is two-years-old, announces, I coming, as he goes upstairs.
Our four-year-old grandson wants to play, but can only take so much of dressing dolls.

Apparently, playing with dolls was on the agenda, much to the delight of the four girls.
They were having so much fun until it was time to leave, which no one wanted to do.
They were told to clean up.
Everybody went to work to put things away until the next time.

There were hugs all around.
Goodbyes were said.
My husband and I waved from the driveway and heard, Toot, Toot as the cars drove away.
We came inside and finished cleaning up the few things left to do.

I went upstairs to the “big kids room” as it is now called.
I noticed that two dolls were dressed in different clothes.
The original clothes were nowhere to be found.
Finger puppets were missing as well, with the empty puppet stage nearby.

I sent my daughter a text.
Could she ask my two granddaughters in the morning if they knew where those things were?
A text arrived the next day; the finger puppets were inside the toy bus.
My five-year-old granddaughter said that the original clothes were in the play suitcase.

I tried to think like my granddaughters but never even considered the suitcase.
It was on a shelf, so someone had to get it down for them.
I pulled it down from the shelf and opened it.
Inside, were all the things that were missing and much more.

In the suitcase, I found actual outfits that belonged to my three-year-old granddaughter.
I wondered how long they may have been in that suitcase, since they were summer outfits.
They were folded and placed in the play suitcase as if she was going on a trip.
I laughed so hard and immediately texted both sets of parents.

I put the clothes on my kitchen table and took a picture.
Laughing emojis were sent.
Surprise and disbelief was the order of the day.
The million dollar question: How long have they been in there?

Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for the road,” he told them, “no staff, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere. (Luke 9:1-6)

This passage always baffled me until I realized why Jesus gave these instructions to the Twelve.
In the Jewish culture, hospitality was vitally important.
Since the Twelve were traveling among the Jews, they should have been well cared for.
They should not have had to worry about anything.

Traveling among the Gentiles, the expectation of hospitality was not the same.
When they did not travel among the Jews, Jesus instructed them to bring provisions.
However, when they traveled among the Jews, they should not have needed anything.
Such a disgrace to be treated inhospitably; they would shake the dust off their feet against them.

My grandchildren were not traveling anywhere; they were simply imagining.
They were packing for a journey, though not a real one.
We are all traveling in this life and we are to be kind and hospitable to our fellow travelers.
May it never be that dust needs to be shaken off the feet of those with whom we have contact.