It was an ordinary day! You know, errands galore and our last stop was the grocery store. There must have been an advertisement of a special sale in this particular supermarket, as the line up on the aisle to pay was rather crowded.
I wasn’t obvious at first, but the women next to the cashier was fussing with her children and her purse. Alas, she found her credit card and was attempting to insert it into the card reader device to pay for her groceries.
It wasn’t going smoothly at all, as the credit card machine and the clerk trying to accept her payment weren’t on the same page, shall we say. Her credit card wasn’t being accepted and that’s when things began to escalate.
She began fishing in her billfold for an alternate card; and wouldn’t you know, it was also rejected. From the distance I was away from her, I noticed the perspiration beginning to build on her forehead; and if I had been intently looking at her blouse (and I wasn’t), I probably could have noticed her heart pounding as well.
The scene changed when she opened her billfold yet again and clearly, the reaction wasn’t positive. It seems she was counting on the credit card to take care of the payment and not a payment in cash. This was not to be.
Not only was this mother nervous and frustrated, so was the clerk. From our vantage point, he certainly wasn’t behaving in a compassionate manner and this only created more tension in the woman, and in those in the line up.
There was one man behind this anxious mother who took notice of this seemingly delicate dilemma, and he moved ahead of others and inquired of the clerk what the amount “owing was.” His heart and cash went into “gift mode” and he just quietly handed over the required amount for her load of groceries.
Then a beautiful thing happened. The woman was apologetic, and thanked the man for his very kind intervention at the check out.
She left the check-out line and proceeded to pack her items in a bag wiping the tears from her eyes.
It was soon our turn to pay for our groceries. As my husband was doing the credit card thing in the reader, I felt prompted to go over to the woman and put my arm around her shoulder to give some comfort and support. Through the tears, she said she couldn’t believe it. I burst forth with “You know, that was the love of Jesus reaching out to you.” She must have been a Christian, as she wholeheartedly agreed. I extended one last hug and off I went.
I was in that grocery line to witness a “living sermon” and to add a “warm bow” to the gift of kindness by a stranger.
This is the Christmas Season, I know; but can’t we all be on the lookout for opportunities to “BE A GIFT TO SOMEONE IN LINE.” We might just allow the person or two behind us in a line-up to go ahead of us. I did that just recently and gained two smiles and a lovely conversation.
May the REASON FOR THE SEASON…. JESUS
prompt each of us to “gift others” with kindness in our lineups.
Published by Dianne Horne
I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others.
I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is!
I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived.
God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others.
The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life.
In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty.
My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives.
Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life?
I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace.
My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ?
The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.
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