By Martha Bolton: [HUMOR]

Sometimes thinking outside the box is hard to do when you are actually IN it.

Who doesn’t want to look stylish? I try. But I’m usually about a decade or so behind the times. My husband is not any better.

I remember the weekend years ago when I finally talked him into buying a leisure suit. All the fashionable men had been wearing them, but he had been holding out. On this particular weekend, though, he was finally going to get one. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

We went to a local department store and shopped a bit, but couldn’t find exactly what he was looking for. So he asked a clerk, “Where can I find your leisure suits?”

The clerk replied, “Back in the 70’s, sir.”

I had my own experience when I went looking for a pair of stylish sheepskin boots. I thought they were cute whenever I saw someone wearing them, so I figured it’d be fun to at least try on a pair.

I walked into one of those big warehouse shoe stores and went up and down the aisles until I spotted them. After finding my size, I looked around for one of those shoestore stools to sit on while I tried them on. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one in that particular aisle, but there did happen to be a giant box full of smaller shoeboxes nearby, just waiting for a clerk to unpack. Perfect, I thought, and sat down on it.

The only problem was, it was empty! I sank all the way down to the bottom of the box and then realized to my horror that I was stuck. No matter how hard I tried to get out, I couldn’t budge. I felt like a human taco.

I had to rock the box back and forth until I knocked it over on its side and climbed out. (They’re probably still passing around the security video.)

Have you ever had a situation turn out nothing like you expected it would? Have you had your good intentions turn you upside down, leaving you stuck, embarrassed, laughed at?

The Bible is full of stories where you can find God outside the box working to prove His love to us. But sometimes he works inside the boxes, too. He can turn our most embarrassing moments into moments where He reminds us that He’s still our friend. He loves us even in our weakest, most awkward moments, like when we’re stuck in a giant shoe box and trying to look cool.

 ©Martha Bolton. Martha has written for many well-known comedians including Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller and is also a novelist. She was nominated for both an Emmy and Dove Award for lyrics and scriptwriting and has written award-winning parodies.  Find out more about Martha at marthabolton.com.

And for a bit more humor, enjoy these church bulletin bloopers. Sometimes an effort to think outside the box to be creative doesn’t come out quite right . . .