My mom and I are different in a few ways. One is how we played as children. As for her, she was always a cowgirl. Not me. I used to love to pretend I was in outer space or that I was a spy/secret agent. It makes sense since I loved to watch “Lost in Space” and “Get Smart.”
The best part of pretending to be a secret agent was sneaking around. Whether it was at my parents’ or grandparents’ house, I would hide behind furniture, doors, or whatever I could find. Hey, that’s what you do when you’re on a secret mission. There was this one time I really was on a mission. One evening, I had left a book from the school library in the living room. Not being sleepy, I decided to finish reading it. The problem was that it was way past my bedtime. The book was sitting on a table close to the hallway, so I decided to go stealth and sneak into the living room and get it. My plan was to lay my coat over me and then slowly scoot down the hallway toward the living room. You see, I was hoping my mom would just think that I had accidentally dropped my coat on the floor not to pay any attention to it. Yeah, that sounds strange, but in my defense, I was ten years old. With excitement, I put my plan in motion. As I crept down the hallway undercover, or should I say undercoat, I stopped a couple of times as to not draw suspicion to myself. As I scooted, I imagined secret agent Maxwell Smart being so proud of me. That is until my mother reached down and jerked up the coat. It was one of the few times I screamed. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t get in trouble. My parents were laughing too hard for that.
I’m sure most reasonable people would be thinking: “I wouldn’t have done that.” But as for me, I had a lot of fun doing it. In a way, it was like a small adventure. That being said, I didn’t sneak around like that at my parents’ house again. My next big “sneaking” adventure happened in high school. No, I didn’t hide under my coat. Instead, I secretly passed notes to my friends. During study hall, I folded the notes into a triangles and flipped them over to the next table when the teacher wasn’t looking. Also, my bestie and cousin Lynda and I would slip notes to each other in the hallway as we changed classes. I couldn’t wait to get read hers. In a way, it felt like I was opening a gift on Christmas morning when I unfolded it. So, what did we write to each other? You might be surprised to know we were mainly giving each other advice and incites on various people and problems. Of course, these often-included boys we liked at the time.
The picture with this article is one of our old notes that I recently found while reorganizing the basement. It was in a box that hadn’t been opened since we moved many years ago. While Lynda and I had fun rereading it, we were also a little confused. You see, we had no idea what we were talking about in our letters. Let’s face it, the early eighties were a long time ago.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
As Believers, we need to ask ourselves how we are living. Are we doing so that others can see Christ in us or are we keeping our faith undercover and hidden from view. If we live it, we may have the blessing to hear: “I want what you have.”
Looking back, I realize I was more like agent 13 instead of Maxwell Smart. Agent 13 was always hiding undercover in the strangest places. I remember him being in trash cans and even a toilet. So, me scooting under my coat wasn’t so strange after all. Now, if I had tried to hide and scoot in the trash can, it would’ve been a “stinkier” story.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.