I went to get groceries today and discovered that everyone had the same idea I did.  It was a Thanksgiving preparation rush.  Seriously? I thought I was the only one who thought I was the savvy shopper and would have what I needed before all the hoarders got there. WRONG! I got my first clue when I perused the aisles in the parking lot.  "What is this, free groceries day?" It looked like the Chesapeake Jubilee had been moved down the street to Harris Teeter.  I know; you're thinking why didn't you go to Walmart or Food Lion or somewhere else?  It's because I love the produce at Harris Teeter. It's always fresh and even if you did get something that had a less than welcome shelf life, they take it back and double your money for having to come back.  Now that's customer service!
Anyway, back to my story.  Soon after entering with my cart and thinking, "I can conquer this in spite of the crowd", I soon realized it wouldn't be as easy as I thought.  You see, mothers had come with their darlings. Not only had they packed their darlings but they also had their tri-fold coupon notebooks, their calculator and their colored marking pens as they slowly scrutinized labels. The older darlings had been assigned to care for the younger darlings and it was soon apparent that they had clocked out on that job.  Lucky me! Everything on my list was apparently on hers!
I soon realized that I had a choice to make. My shopping experience could be my attempt at a jet-paced, erratic run from isle to isle, or I could take a deep breath and pray silently. "God, what's up with this?" I'm truly grateful that the Holy Spirit helps me when I'm not feeling necessarily spiritual. You know, like you feel as soon as you leave church and before you get into the traffic. It's the feeling where you go out thinking, "I want to be just like Jesus." Or it may be that you go out with a new realization that God has a purpose for all things at all times. Usually I don't have these feelings when I'm grocery shopping.  I have to really depend on the Holy Spirit to guide me when I'm foolishly lost in myself. Grocery shopping is almost always one of those times.
Again, back to my story.  Thankfully, I slowed down and realized that this might be one of those times when God wanted to use me.  So I altered my attitude a bit.  OK, I altered it a lot!  I began to interact with others on every isle where I found myself shopping.  It turned into a truly blessed time.  I don't know if it blessed anyone else, but it sure did bless me. I got everything I needed and my day wasn't ruined over a crowded store.  More important, I felt so grateful that God tuned me into His spirit and helped me to see that it's in the simple daily task that He was most often found ministering.  I think it must have blessed Jesus to do it that way. I got that today.
Then this evening we went out to get some dinner together. We ran into some friends at the restaurant and they ask us to join them at their table.  We had a delightful time together. It was a great time of sharing some laughter, and also some of our individual faith journeys. When it came time to pay our bill we discovered that when they left they had paid for our meal.  What a blessing!  I think it was God's way of saying, "Thanks for listening Pat. See, how good it feels when someone blesses you?" I needed that reminder.
Be a blessing. It feels good.
Pat