Not So Gentle Nudge

Yesterday's task was to conquer the Christmas letters. Address the envelopes, fold the letters, stick on stamps & return labels and then... lick. Ick! If Moka could have done it I would have let her. I hadn't bought stamps so I thought I'd get out of the house a minute to do that. I went to the grocery store thinking it would be easier than the post office to buy my stamps.

I meandered around, got a couple things and looked for the shortest line I could. I doubted self-check had stamps so I went to the 15 or under fast lane. I got in line behind an old lady with my cart of the 3 whoppin' things. Standing there with her ginormous glasses (too cute), her gray hair up with barrettes, and the hands of a sweet woman who has lived a full life, she says to me, "Oh, you can go ahead of me, you don't have much." Good grief woman, I can stand around all day (I mean I'm only 39, not even 40 yet), "No, I'm OK, but thank you." She stood there clutching her cloth bag of groceries - this should tell you she didn't have much either. As she unloaded her items - frozen entrees, a few boxes of jell-o, and something I couldn't recognize from the medicine aisle - I hear, "You should pay for her groceries." Whoa! My heart starts pounding, I get a little shaky and think, Should I? I thought that might be weird... "You should pay for her groceries." OK then, let's do this. I leaned into toward the cashier, my heart pounding out of my chest, and said, "Char, can you tell her that her groceries are paid for?" Char, the gal who normally rings me up every Monday morning, says, "OK. Well." I think she was thrown for a loop. I said, "Just tell her that they are covered and I'll pay for it with my stuff."

The old lady stood there with her wallet open looking for her total on the screen. Char said something I couldn't hear and the woman looked confused with her hand on her cash, ready to pay. I leaned forward, "I'm going to pay for your groceries. You have a great day." I had to repeat it, adding a Merry Christmas. With teary-eyes and a quiet voice she says, "Are you serious?" Yes, I was told do to it and I did. I'm kind of freaked out right now, but yes I'm paying for your groceries. If you start to cry or say much more I'm going to fall apart right here in the fast lane.

I turn to Char who is now teary-eyed as the sweet woman shuffles off. She says, "Well, she used coupons, it saved you a little." This helped lighten the mood. "Oh I don't care. I've never done that before... Wow." I was shaky, sweating and near tears. "The Christmas spirit is alive and well", she says.

I get in the car and call Scott, "I paid for an old lady's groceries." What? He probably had me repeat it because the last time I called with a shaky voice was to say I was in an accident.

Scott had just read this verse to the kids this week: "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, your were doing it to me." Matthew 25:40  He was challenging them to find someone they could reach out to who might feel left out or needs a friend. Just as I had my not so gentle nudge, I thought of this. I had done this for this old woman, but really I did it for Him.