“I was at the grocery store this morning and heard a loud crash and something shattering. Being nosy, I walked towards the sound and saw some people whispering and looking back to the end of the next aisle. When I walked down that aisle, I saw an older lady had hit a shelf containing dishes with her cart and many had fallen to the ground and broke. She was kneeling on the floor embarrassed, frantically picking up the shattered pieces, while her husband was peeling off the bar code from each broken dish saying, “Now we will have to pay for all this!”
I felt so bad for her, and everyone was just standing there staring at her!! I went and knelt beside her and told her not to worry and started helping her pick up the broken pieces. After about a minute, the store manager came and knelt beside us and said, “Leave it, we will clean this up. Let’s get your information so you can go to the hospital and have that cut on your hand looked at.”
The lady, totally embarrassed said, “I need to pay for all this first.” The manager smiled, helped her to her feet and said, “No ma’am, we have insurance for this, you do not have to pay anything!”
I have read this story many times and it never fails to send its message to me.
We are all broken. And yet, we pay no price for our repairs. That price has already been paid. We just have to accept the check and take the action of putting it in the bank. We will never be able to repay the bill. However, we can invest in the account. No matter our age, educational level, or experience or lack thereof, we can and must invest in the account, because we are no longer broken.
Tag: Love
Doing Good
Peace
Ordinary
God’s Ambassadors
What is in Your Spiritual Toolbox
When I was a little girl my dad was in business for himself. He owned his own heating and air-conditioning business. When ever he got a service call, he would pick up his toolbox, load it in his work truck and head out. As a matter of course he would always make sure he replaced any tool that had gotten lost or worn out. No matter how small or how large. He knew each tool was needed in order to do his job properly. He also knew that if he had to stop and go purchase a tool, he lost time.
We must ask ourselves what is in our spiritual toolbox? Or do we even have a spiritual toolbox? Do we have the wrench to tighten our thoughts when they threaten to spill out even if it might not be the right thing to say? Do we have a spiritual screwdriver to tighten our anger when it becomes unhinged? Do we have that spiritual hammer to remind us that once the nail hole is in the fence it cannot be made whole? Do we have that spiritual oil cloth to wipe away the tears from the faces of others who are hurting? Do we have that small allen wrench to reach the small places?
Just like my dad, if he did not have all of his tools in his toolbox ready at the door, he could not do his job. We must always have our spiritual toolbox handy, ready to open and repair, or build those we meet. We must always be ready to take on the job at hand without having to go out and buy a tool.
The Clay Jar
Another Fine Lesson
Video Who Has Your Heart
Someone Once Asked…..
The other day as I was scrolling through my social media, I came across a saying that really resonated with me. My mother used to ask me this question but in a different form. The question was “Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?” I was not wise enough to answer her well. However, I think now I can even though she is not with me any longer here on earth. The answer to the question is simply this, “Why do you assume I see two roads.”
As we are on our road of life, sometimes we must take a path that maybe we did not see coming to teach us a lesson that will not only help us, but it might be of benefit to someone else. Sure, that road may be filled with potholes, and danger or even a collision or two. But they are there for a reason.
I know as a child I was not the easiest child to raise. I had my own mind from the time I was a toddler. I always went my own path. I guess I felt like I needed to know things to experience first hand things in order to learn. Did I make bad decisions, did I fall on my face. You bet. Did I disappoint my parents, on more than one occasion. Did I fail myself, you bet I did. Did I disappoint my creator, I have forgotten the times I did. And yet, I learned, sometimes I had to fall in that pothole more than once. I credit my Scot/Irish ancestors with that mindset. But I learned, eventually. For those of you who know the person you see today, I was not always that person. I was shy, timid, felt unworthy, unloved and unaccepted. I would not speak up, nor would I voice an opinion. I felt I had nothing to offer. I strived to be all things to all people and in the end, I lost me. I felt that my words did not matter, that my worth did not matter and that no matter how much I strived, I would never matter. It took the hard road to show me that I mattered, if to no one else but God. I have been called harsh by some, even my own children in the past. Maybe am. I know that if I am asked, I will speak up. If I see someone running out into the road and a truck is on a Collison course with them, I will try to pull them back. That is my road.
The “hard road” has taught me how to make my past experiences a guidepost not a hitching post and that is okay.
The point is this. As humans maybe we only see one road, and maybe that is okay. Maybe our journey will help someone else on their journey down their hard road. What we must remember is that our Creator is always by our side. He always walks with us and we always have a way to get out of those potholes.
The Good News A Journey Through the Bible 