Check it before you wreck it…Thoughts on April 4th, 2020


Yesterday was a good day, things went along like any other day, nothing out of the ordinary. I did some studying here at home, made a Three Minute Thursday, one day late. I made a short video on Chaplain matters. I had a pastoral counseling matter to take care of, and then David and I hosted a Bible study around Jesus and social distancing. Pretty normal day. While we were making the video I received a request from someone in our community who has a lung issue needing assistance with grocery shopping. No problem, happy to help.

So I go on to the grocery store and while I’m waiting to receive the list from the individual requesting assistance I decided while I was there I should go ahead and get some things for our home. I filled up a shopping cart with my groceries and pushed it to the front and asked the young man working the register if I could leave my cart there, will you make sure no one puts these things back? His response was yes it is fine to leave it but you have frozen items that shouldn’t stay out too long. I said to the young man, it’s ok, they are mine, I’m not worried about them melting, I’ll deal with that, just make sure no one puts the stuff back.

I received the list, it was a pretty big list but no problem. I had to make some decisions when what was requested was out of stock, do I get a different brand, a different size, or just leave it off the list. Of course there were no paper products available. It probably took me about 30 minutes, I was able to get about 75 percent of the items on the list, the other items were out of stock.

Guess what I found when I get back to the register to pay for everything…

You guessed it, all of my items had been taken and placed back on the shelves.

The past 3 weeks of shelter in place haven’t been all that difficult for me and my family. We have laughed a lot and really enjoyed our time together. We have been able to mostly work from home and get things done. We already homeschooled our children before this happened so adding the youngest granddaughter to the homeschool hasn’t been all that big of an adjustment. We have been running some and trying to stay active and healthy.

But, when I discovered that my groceries had been placed back on the shelf, it felt like an elephant had just sat on my chest. Every bit of energy I had just drained out of me. I felt like screaming. But I didn’t, the look on my face probably spoke volumes but I didn’t say anything harsh. The young man apologized and said he would go and gather the items back up for me, but I didn’t have the energy to even try and remember what was in the cart. All I wanted to do was get out of that store, deliver the groceries I had, and go home.

While I normally sleep five and a half to six hours on a normal night, last night I went to bead and slept about eight and a half. It was the first night in a long time I didn’t toss and turn, I slept good.

I tell you this to help you and myself to remember that we are human beings. And when we get busy and we are helping others we have to be sure and come aside and rest and recharge. It’s exactly what David and I spoke about to the church yesterday. Jesus often pulled away from the crowds and got alone with God and sometimes with just a few of his closest disciples. We may think everything is fine and it is, but then one little thing like the groceries can cause us to lose it. The young man in the store was just doing what he has been trained to do and thankfully I did what I have trained to do and that is to do no harm. It was groceries, we can go another time, no harm was done by anyone, just a misunderstanding.

I see families struggling because you haven’t taken time to get away, maybe not from the crowds but time to just get alone and rest, spend some time with God in His word, and pray. Find your place and go there often.

Ronnie