Grocery List

A sister at work posted this.

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store.

She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.

She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once.

Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.'

John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?'

Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said, 'Fine....put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.'

Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down..

The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.'

The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said:

'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.'

The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence.

Louise thanked him and left the store. The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth every penny of it. Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.'

So dear heart, trust God to heal the sick, provide food for the hungry, clothes and shelter for those that don't have as we do.

I will also add to it this -- be the answer to someone's prayers.

Whose Way

Sometimes God does big amazing things in our life, and it is right to give him credit. Sometimes God does little amazing things in our life, and it is also right to give him credit. I'm such a bonehead I too often steal it for myself. I try not to, but I surely do. I do remember giving him proper credit for that 200+ bowling game I prayed for that one time. I do remember giving him proper credit for stopping the rain just long enough to make my run that one time, when I was on that whole "I'm going to dunk a basketball" kick. I do remember giving him proper credit for helping me fix broken hardware at work and get moving again.

These are not things that are important by the standards of eternity. They have nothing to do with my salvation, building myself or others up, or surviving in this broken world. They're just little gifts God throws at me, and all of us who ask, perhaps just to say "I'm still here, I still love you, and I touch every aspect of your life. Don't forget it."

I haven't.

Even when I go into my escape from reality in the form of Halo: Reach, I often, not always, remember to give God credit for those "can't believe that happened" victories. It's a rarity for me to see a Cutting Crew, Buck Wild, Extermination, or Perfection, but I do see them -- nice gifts from my dad in the game I enjoy playing.

Then there's those times in game that I see one such gift ahead of me, with the path all laid out, and I take it upon myself to get greedy and hurry it up and wreck the whole thing. The one I remember most vividly was when I had a 19 kill 0 death spree going with on Countdown. Our team was about to win the game. Perfection, in the bag. Didn't happen. Why not? Greed. Sinful, selfish, greed. I didn't just want the Perfection, I wanted the Rampage you get with 20 kills straight. So I chase some guy with a sword up a ramp way too far -- no way I can reach him before he riddles me full of bullets, but I try anyway, knowing in the back of my head I'm a dead man.

Moron.

All I had to do was play it the same way I had for the rest of the game. But at the last minute I decide that what's been working isn't good enough. What I have isn't good enough. I want more, and I want it faster. So I take matters into my own hands and the whole thing self-destructs.

Isn't that what we are prone to do in life sometimes?

God's got the plan and us in the palm of his hand. He's in control, we've nothing to worry about -- we just need to go along for the ride listening to his voice. But, oh no, we want more, and we want it faster. God's way sucks -- time to do it our way.

For the record, just so you know, Our Way sucks. It's the road Neo stared down in The Matrix, and it ends in the same place for all of us -- Big Fat Mess, Nowhere. It's not where we want to be. Just get in the car and let God drive.

Grace and Peace