During the icy Minneapolis winter of 2002, a Minnesota couple made plans to go to a warm Florida beach to thaw out for a week. The trip was going to be even more special because the husband and wife planned to return to the hotel where they had spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.
However, their plans had to be altered when the wife’s work schedule changed, and they were unable to leave for Florida at the same time. The husband left on Thursday; his wife was to follow a day later. At their hotel, he sent an e-mail to let his wife know he had arrived. However, he mistyped one letter of her email address.
A short time later in Houston, a minister’s widow returned to her home after her husband’s funeral. She logged into her e-mail to read encouraging messages from family and friends who had been unable to attend. When she read the first message, she screamed and fainted. Her son heard his mother fall and rushed into her room where he saw this e-mail on her screen.
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: February 4, 2002
I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have a computer in the lobby so guests can send emails to their loved ones. I’ve checked in and made preparations for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine. Love, Your Eager Husband. P. S. It sure is hot down here!!!!
The story is humorous on multiple levels. All of us experience confusing moments when we misinterpret what is happening. Our spouse says one thing and we hear something else. Someone gives us a look and we see it as anger when the person was merely frustrated or having a bad day. It is often easy to jump to conclusions or believe the worst.
The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church in Philippi nearly 2,000 years ago. It still relates today. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8, NLT)
Paul is saying that we are to be cautious about making negative assumptions; our focus is to be on what is good, not on what is bad. We are to eagerly celebrate the truth, not quickly latch onto what is negative. There is good and bad around us all the time, but we can choose our focus. Sometimes, like the minister’s widow, our first impressions will be off track. But each of us has the potential despite starting out wrong, to shift our focus to what is positive and good. The question for each of us is whether we will.