A Story Of Giving Starts At The Checkout Lane

The story is second-hand information, but the facts are true and indisputable.  I’ll trust my beloved all the way on this account of blessing.  Also being a family that professes the Christian faith, there is a strong undercurrent of Spiritual meaning to this event.  We never know the reasons for people to cross paths.  It could be so that this story can reach someone and touch their heart.

On a normal Saturday afternoon, my wife Liz goes to the store and stocks up on some needed supplies.  Upon loading the items onto the conveyor belt, the marker which separates one order from another was placed between items.  Offhandedly, Liz says to the woman behind her, “I wish I could do one of those ‘random acts of kindness’ by paying for your groceries, but I can’t.”

She responds by saying, “Well, then.  How about I just pay for yours?”  Shock and awe ensues.  My wife and the checkout lady were stupefied.  Then the benevolent woman sees how much the order was and says, “You need to go get some more.”  Already grateful for what was done, my wife politely declined.  The attendant was so overtaken by the moment she forgot to scan the coupons.  The check was already written, so the cash back as a result of the transaction should have gone to this angel.  “No. You take it,” she offered.

There is no way that someone who gives such a wonderful gift knows the small crisis that had befallen just a day earlier.  A vehicle appointment for a battery replacement turns into shot front wheel bearings.  It’s not that our family is just scraping by.  We routinely give to our friends and family who are in a more desperate plight.  This is where that Christmas Spirit and Christian faith becomes clearly defined.  The Bible says that evil will be punished and those that do good will prosper.  We have faith that those words are true.  It has been witnessed here and it spurs us to act in the same way when we can.  God owns everything.  We are just caretakers of his bounty.

Giving impulsively arrives at Christmastime, but the right time to give is now, next month or whenever the need is evident.  Remember that cash back?  It went into the Salvation Army kettle.  The circle continues because more people need help.