I have in my home a cold-box. The former owners actually built the house. And one custom item which they specially built into the house was a cold-box.
Here you can see our cold-box. It is basically just a tall, skinny “cabinet” (of sorts) built into the pantry … with one very important distinction – it has an opening to the outdoors. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice that the top half of the cold-box is completely open to the outdoors on the back side, with a screen over the opening.
The beauty of having a cold-box is that it stays the same temperature as the outdoors. Therefore, for most of the year, since our temperatures stay consistently in the 40’s-50’s, I can use it as a second refrigerator (of sorts). It is a great place to store fruits and vegetables.
Another thing about a cold-box … out of sight, out of mind.
Last week I gathered a good amount of fresh ripe tomatoes from the garden. The cold-box was the perfect place to store them while hubby and I feasted on them over several days.
The only problem was that I forgot they were in there.
I’m sure you can guess what happened to quite a few of our tomatoes by the time I remembered them. Not pretty.
“Out of sight, out of mind” comes into play regarding our relationships as well.
If there is someone with whom we would like to have a close relationship, yet they live far away … “out of sight, out of mind” has a huge impact on that relationship.
Just like I forgot about my fresh ripe tomatoes in the cold-box, so also we “forget” about those people dearest to us, who live far away.
And just like my fresh ripe tomatoes in the cold-box eventually went rotten … so also, those relationships we “forget about” likewise “go rotten.”
It takes intentionality to maintain a close relationship with someone who lives far away.
Intentionally thinking of them!
Intentionally reaching out to them!
Intentionally stopping what we are doing to respond to them!
Intentionally caring about them!
Intentionally remembering what they share with us!
Intentionally following-up with them regarding what they shared with us!
Intentionally doing things to make them feel loved and appreciated.
Intentionally making a point to spend time with them face to face.
Intentionality requires sacrifice. It will require sacrifice of our time. It will require sacrifice of our resources (aka: money). It will require sacrifice of our own personal interests.
If we are not willing to make the sacrifice to be intentional … then we should not be surprised when those long-distance relationships eventually wind up “going rotten.”
