This afternoon I ran into my favorite neighborhood grocery to grab a few things for this weeks’ dinners. Just five ingredients to be exact – tortillas, a box of pasta, cilantro, a tomato and an avocado.
I hurried over to the fast check out lane as I was on my way to pick up one of my sons. As the man scanned my items, I reached for my wallet only to find $4. Ugh! My keys with the zippered pouch, where I keep extra cash and a credit card, was not with me.
I didn’t have my keys because I had driven my husband’s car. My daugther, who had also left in a hurry, had taken my car because her car was almost out of gas. Everything about the afternoon had been a whirlwind and she and I were both upset when she left. And now I stood in the checkout line not able to buy my pasta because she had inconvienced me.
I asked the man to just take the pasta out and told him I would come back for it tomorrow. But when he tried to cancel it from the transaction it accidentally re-scanned instead. As he struggled to get the register to do what he wanted (which I totally get as a sales associate at Anthropologie) I felt bad I was holding things up. Little did I know a stranger in the line next to me had overheard my predicament and watching this take place. The next thing I knew she tapped me on the shoulder and held out a couple dollars.
I tried to refuse it telling her I didn’t have to buy the pasta, but she insisted, expressing how frustrating it is to get home from the store without all the needed ingredients. Very true, and so humbling.
I handed the man my freshly received cash only to realize I was still $.80 short and had already dumped out my change. While I was still insisting we could take off the pasta, the young cashier next to him pulled a dollar out of her pocket to resolve this once and for all.
I know it was only a total of $3, but it was from two strangers who I would’ve never expected to even realize what was going on and certainly not intervene. This is what makes it so spectacular – they saw a need and acted! By looking out for and serving the needs of others, they were imaging forth Christ as we were created to do. This is afterall what it means to be truly human! But in our broken, self-absorbed worlds, His image in us is often not visible so we are surprised by these glimpses of grace.
For me, accepting the money in the grocery store was hard because I felt unworthy. I didn’t do anything to deserve their kindness and gift. Just like I felt when sweet friends came to clean my house (among other things) when I had vertigo a few weeks ago and sitting back as friends have prayed over me and swung into action with plans for upcoming book launch parties. It’s hard to accept because there is nothing I can do to repay their generosity.
Just like with Jesus. There is nothing we did to deserve His goodness and grace. Exactly what makes who He is for us so spectacular! If only we could fully rest and believe it is true!
Having Jesus in our hearts and helping others is what brings us a joy that cannot be fulfilled any other way. You have been blessed to be in the path today and having your soul filled like this is what helps you overflow blessings to others. It’s beautiful.
Been thinking about this encounter you had at the store and I wonder how many of these situations are simply ignored. I love the way the person simply gave. I tend to think and over-think situations sometimes. When you start the day with prayer and an open heart to doing God’s will, you start seeing these little opportunities to minister and simply GIVE out grace to others.
On the flip side, accepting this Grace is definitely difficult. Is it pride that gets in the way? For me, it’s my background of growing up with having strings attached to everything I did. My family still works that way. There are strings attached to every offer of help… I will do this for you today, but you better come and help me on that day. It wears you down. Jesus’s love, grace and mercy doesn’t work like that and it takes some getting used to! I find myself going back to my old self and wondering “hmmm… why did they do that? What do they want in return?” If we look up, we will see that these moments are not for the others, but for growing our own faith.
Thank you for a thought-provoking post!