Filled with Good Things

Good morning, Kylan!" said Mom. She pulled out a can of orange juice from the freezer and ran it under some hot water. "Can I make you something?"

On a normal Saturday morning, Kylan would have said, "Pancakes, please!" But today she looked down at the table miserably, her chin resting in her hands. "Mom?" she asked, "What if there's something bad I can't stop thinking about...something that won't get out of my head?"

"Well," said Mom, "I suppose it would depend on what's gotten stuck."

"Last night I dreamed that our house was on fire. I thought that you and Grandma and Grandpa were burning up, and I couldn't get out. I could almost feel the fire!" She shuddered. "And now I can't turn that picture off."

"Hmm," said Mom thoughtfully. "This calls for orange juice."

"Orange juice?" asked Kylan, surprised. She watched in curiosity as her mother jumped up, grabbed an empty pitcher and the can of orange juice, and sat down again.

"What do you see in here?" she asked, holding up the pitcher.

"Nothing," said Kylan.

"Really? There's nothing in there at all?"

"Nothing but air," Kylan added, confused.

"Exactly! There's air in there! Let's say we wanted to get the air out of the pitcher. What would we do?"

"I don't know," said Kylan. "Vacuum it?"

Mom laughed. "That might work for a few seconds. But what if we wanted the air to stay out?" She tapped the top of the orange juice can.

"We could...put orange juice in it," Kylan said.

"Right! When there's orange juice in the pitcher, there's no room for air. Our minds work the same way. Putting good thoughts in pushes the bad thoughts out. That's why the Bible tells us to think about things that are true, lovely, and admirable--like how Jesus saved us and promises to take care of us."

Kylan smiled. "Can we push the air out of the pitcher now? I'm thirsty!"

"Sure!" said Mom. "Let's have some orange--oh no! I left the water on!"

Kylan laughed. "Good job, Mom! You filled up the sink with good things too!" Hannah Spuler