She winks at me and then slowly continues to push her cart down the aisle.
I stand and stare at the jar in my hand. The one thing I thought I needed. The one thing I was certain could set this day back in its proper order. And yet.
“Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word fitly spoken” (Proverbs 25:11).
Her words wash right over me and momentarily settle the overwhelming panic that sits right below the surface of my heart. She didn’t know that the day had bullied me into believing that I couldn’t do it all. She didn’t know how I had forgotten that this life is a gift and was treating it more like a chore.
She didn’t know that her little words would echo in my head for the rest of the day; that I would hear them as I drove carpool, helped with book reports, settled arguments and tucked boys into bed. She didn’t know how they would slow me down and simply make me smile. Nope. She didn’t know any of this.
She was just trying to pick the right jelly.
But I think she does know a little something that I am quick to forget. I think she knows that our words carry power; that our smiles and our eyes and the way God created us to be in communion with each other? They are gifts. And we are meant to use them well. We are meant to truly see others and to cheer them on as we travel the aisles of this life together. Even the ones who don’t really want to listen. Yeah. I forget how much this matters.
And then I go racing into the day looking for peanut butter and get handed a huge helping of grace. So, to the sweet lady who bought grape jelly at the Walmart yesterday morning; I want to be you when I grow up.
Amen.
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This article originally appeared at LeighSain.com.
