Shortly after we purchased our house, the doorbell rang and I went to answer it. A portly man with a smile on his face could be seen through the side windows.
Opening the door, the man said “Hi, I’m Bob and I’m your mailman.”
This was the first time a mailman had actually introduced himself to me. Must be the Minnesota nice that people talk about here.
As the years rolled on, Bob and I became friendly. We shared laughs about family and when there was no mail for us, he would put a note in the mailbox that said “no mail today.”
When Bob was going on vacation he always let me know. I joked that perhaps I should put our mail on hold while he was gone. I said it jokingly, but I had so many problems with the temporary mailpeople that I actually considered it.
One time a package was delivered to our unfriendly neighbors across the street. I had been waiting for my package and saw when the mail woman arrived. I then received notification that my package was delivered. I called the carrier annex immediately and the mail woman said she remembered delivering it across the street. In spite of their best efforts, the post office was never able to retrieve the package from the neighbor so I never saw the package. The company that it came from was kind enough to send me another one for free.
Such was life without Bob. Sigh (laughing)
One day Bob came to the door and told me that he was going to be retiring in 6 months. I know, I know … one must not become dependent on someone so dependable.
I told him that he couldn’t retire but I knew it would happen.
A week before Bob’s retirement he put an invitation to his retirement party in the mailbox. Unfortunately we were not able to make it.
A few months later, our new mail carrier arrived ~ John. John was a little different. He came at different times each day and did some of the oddest things. For instance, one day I received a package and John put it on top of our mailbox since it didn’t fit inside the mailbox. Hmmm … why not drive up to the front door and leave it there? I pondered.
Anyone could have driven up and taken the package with no problem. Fortunately I saw what he did. Unfortunately for John I called the carrier annex and issued a complaint. “Don’t worry, we’ll talk with John” they assured me.
Since John did not arrive around the same time every day, I didn’t wait to see when the mail arrived ~ 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm ~ there was no consistency.
One day I was waiting for an Amazon package and the I received a message that the package had been delivered. Heading to the front door, I peeked outside but didn’t see a package. So ~ I went to the mailbox.
And there it was.
Stuffed Mailbox PackageJohn had stuffed the package along with the mail into the mailbox so I couldn’t remove it. Even with my small hands, I could not put my fingers in at the sides to grasp the package.
Sigh, sigh and sigh again …
I went into the house and called the carrier annex. What would possess John to shove this package in the mailbox so that it couldn’t be removed? I wondered. Was he lazy? Did he have an appointment that he was in a hurry for?
The supervisor at the carrier annex apologized and said someone would be out by the end of the day to remove the package for me. Sure enough, as promised, the female carrier came to the front door with the package and mail in hand. She apologized.
It seems such a small problem in life ~ a stuffed mailbox package, doesn’t it? Yet when a lot of small things happen and start adding up they can become large in our minds.
That’s why we have to keep our focus on the bigger picture and allow these smaller problems to roll off our shoulders ~ so they don’t become one large piece.
I’m glad that I can talk to God about both the little and the big things in my life and that He cares about all of it. It lifts all of it off of my shoulders because I know that He will always have my back.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
And John? Well, he hasn’t made any mailbox deliveries anymore ~ he brings them to the front door.
