Please Come Out

My brother Tommy has a dry sense of humor ... he's one of those guys who can pull a fast one on you and never crack a smile. I can remember countless times when he had me totally convinced something he was telling me was factual only to eventually find out that he was kidding around with me. Back when my children were young, Tommy lived in Miami, Florida, where he worked as the general manager for the largest privately owned Pepsi plant in the United States. One of the perks of working for Pepsi was that Tommy was able to score some pretty fun and cool items from time to time, items that he often shared with me and my kiddos. From Pepsi T-shirts to beach towels to coolers to flip-flops, we did our part to help out with free advertising for the soda giant.

I'm not sure what the occasion was ... perhaps it was Matt's birthday ... but one year, Tommy gave Matt a plush toy in the shape of a 7-Up can. Sounds weird, right? And it was kind of weird now that I think about it ... I know, I know, I digress ... back to the plush 7-Up can. On the side of the toy was a zipper, yes, a zipper. When Matt asked my brother what the zipper was for, Tommy told him there was something special inside the can. Matt unzipped the heavy metal zipper and peered inside the can, but he didn't see anything. He looked at Tommy with a puzzled expression, and my brother with a completely straight face said, "Matt, you have to say the magic words to find out what's inside the can. You have to shake the can real hard and say, 'Please come out!'" I will never forget how Matt jumped up and down shaking the heck out of the furry can while he yelled in his sweet little Southern accent, "Please come out! Please come out!" It took him a good long while to figure out that if he shook the can long enough and twisted and turned it inside out, it became the red Spot character that was, at that time, the logo for 7-Up. I don't remember how long Matt believed that he had to say the magic words to get the can to morph into Spot, but it was a significant amount of time. Yep ... he's the same boy who is now a professor at the University of Alberta ... go figure.

I've been going through a bunch of stuff in my house over the last few months and either giving things away or pitching them in the trash, and a couple of weeks ago, I ran across Matt's 7-Up can. I sat in my basement thinking about that night so long ago ... Matt in his P.J.s shaking and twisting the toy while he shouted, "Please come out!" over and over and over again ... and that memory has been stuck in my mind ever since. Those of you who've been reading along with me for a while know that I look for lessons in everything I see or hear or experience or remember, and tonight as I was driving home from work, I realized that there's a gigantic lesson for me in my memory of Matt, the plush 7-Up can and the magic words. I could almost hear God speak audibly in my car as tears filled my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. "I'm turning you inside out, child ... I'm saying the magic words because I know what's inside the can ... I know what your heart will become. Please come out, Terrie ... I'm shaking you and saying the words because I see your heart ... I know your heart ... I made your heart."

Pulling into my garage and turning off my car, I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath as I understood what God was trying to teach me. So many of us go through life refusing to come out of our own worlds, our own hiding places, our own safe spots and become the people He wants us to be. It's easier to stay zipped up, buttoned down and closed off ... it hurts to be turned inside out ... it's risky to be real and transparent and open and honest. But ... but ... but ... when I let go and let God do the shaking ... when I let go and listen to Him speak the magic words of life ... I become who He created me to be ... I become whole and His and loved.

Shake me up, Lord ... shake me up, and turn me inside out ... search out Your spot within me ... speak Your magic words ... shake me up ... shake me up ... shake me up.