You Just Might Get Wet

How I wanted a fountain pen.
I was in elementary school, in the fourth grade.
The year before we had learned cursive writing; now everything was to be written that way.
I laid out all my arguments as to why a fountain pen would help me write cursive better.

I wanted a blue fountain pen.
I also wanted a pack of extra ink cartridges.
I already knew how to change the ink cartridge.
I watched other people replace the ink in their own pens.

I laid out my arguments.
My mother agreed.
We went to the stationary store and I bought my blue fountain pen.
Now be careful with that at school, my mother warned; you don’t want the ink to leak.

In my mind, I was a pro.
I was going to be the best cursive writer in the world.
I was going to expertly change the ink cartridge without spilling a drop.
What is it that is said about pride going before a fall?

I remember putting my fountain pen in my zippered pencil case.
Every time I opened it, that beautiful pen was there begging to be used.
I couldn’t wait until our handwriting period later in the day.
I had been practicing my letters, certain that the pen was making my penmanship legible.

It was time to practice our Palmer method by copying a paragraph that was on the board.
I got my pencil case out of my desk.
I saw the line of blue coming from the corner under the zipper.
I knew what it was but I wanted to be wrong.

I opened my pencil case and my beautiful fountain pen had leaked.
My number two pencils, newly sharpened, were covered in blue ink.
My pink eraser was ruined.
My plastic protractor had ink over all the numbers.

To this day, I do no know how my fountain pen leaked.
I had ink on my fingertips.
I had a spot of ink on my desk.
The entire pencil case and everything in it was ruined.

I knew that when the teacher saw the mess in my pencil case, a note would go home.
I knew that when I told my mother, it would only be ball point pens from now on.
My dream to have a lovely fountain pen was dashed in an afternoon.
I have never had another fountain pen all these years later.

A few of my children loved to have leftovers in their lunch.
It made their lunch more exciting.
It always smelled good to have something from our dinner the night before.
I had special glass dishes with lids that they would bring home each day.

I love to make homemade soup of all kinds.
Italian Wedding Soup is a favorite of my children.
I even bought glass soup bowls with lids so they could transport their soup to school.
They had a disposable soup spoon and homemade bread.

It was something they couldn’t wait to dive into at lunch.
Sometimes when they came home at the end of the day I would ask, how was you lunch?
That question was usually asked on a day of a favorite leftover.
One particular day the answer was, not so good!

I never got to eat it; the soup leaked all over my lunchbox, was the reply of one of my children.
I knew that the glass soup container was fine.
I knew that the lid was on securely; I put it on myself.
Upon inspection, I saw that the plastic lid has a tiny split on the seam.

One little opening was enough to cause the soup to leak inside the insulated lunchbox.
The soup that was making their mouth water was not able to be eaten.
The container that was supposed to hold had a leak that was not seen earlier that morning.
The contents spilled over everything.

Ink and soup.
Both leaked out of the container that was supposed to hold them.
Both covered everything that was nearby.
Both could not be put back in the container once they leaked out.

May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Can you imagine an overflow of hope?
Can you see it spilling over and touching everything it comes in contact with?
Can you see it changing the color of everything as it changes the perspective?
Can you see yourself trying to clean it up only to have it spill over again?

An overflow of hope is a good thing.
So is an overflow of joy.
Also, an overflow of peace.
Most importantly, an overflow of love.

These things cannot be bought.
They are not held in extra cartridges that we can pull out from time to time.
They do not mistakenly leak out because of a leak that went unseen.
They are God-given gifts meant to overflow to others.

The Holy Spirit wants the overflow.
The Holy Spirit causes the overflow.
The more you trust in God the greater the overflow will be.
It is like a geyser waiting to burst forth, unable to be contained.

As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus, we cannot keep it to ourselves.
We are a teapot ready to boil over.
We cannot be contained.
The hope, the joy, the peace, and the love must burst forth.

That overflow impacts others.
They cannot help but be sprinkled with the overflow that comes from us.
They are touched.
They are affected.

That is the way the Holy Spirit works.
The Holy Spirit is the source of the overflow.
The Holy Spirit wants others to know the reason for the hope that you have.
The Holy Spirit wells up in you until you will burst unless you go and tell others.

Go ahead.
Overflow.
Let the world see the hope, the joy, the peace, and the love that comes from knowing Jesus.
They just might get wet, which is a very good thing.