Could you please pass the salt?

'Morning!  Are you up and at it, ready to begin another day in the Lord?  Me too!  Though my eyes are still a little bleary and my fingers not as cooperative as they should be, I am excited for another opportunity to be better than I was yesterday.

Yesterday I wasn't so good.  Steve and I had made a quick trip to Walmart for those last minute gifts that never seem to be the last ones.  Know what I mean?  Seems like there is always just one more that needs a little something else so that s/he doesn't feel left out or slighted.  The present I had in mind required for me to have some prints made from the photo department.  I had just gotten settled and my camera card in the machine when I heard an excited voice call out "Stefanie!  Steve!"

I looked up, saw who it was, and quickly discarded any real attempt at returning the enthusiastic greeting.  I let Steve handle my visitor because I really wanted to get these pictures printed and get back home soon.  Oh sure:  I acknowledged this soul but I didn't stop what I was doing, give her the hug she was waiting for, nor did I really make too much eye contact 'cause I knew this gal would take the next several minutes of my oh-so-valuable time if I did.  Nope, I was in my zone and focused on my task, as I haphazardly listened and occasionally participated in the conversation, mumbling something first about how I really needed to get this done.  Until...

Until she mentioned her father-in-law had passed just about a week ago.  Stunned I was because I had just seen her mother-in-law two days earlier and she hadn't mentioned it.  But that's a whole other story.  Chagrin filled my heart as I finally looked at my old friend and her husband, whose head was down near his chest as he listened to her tell of his daddy's passing.  His grief was the kind where one wanted to give a condolence hug that held on a while because of the depth of sorrow radiating from him.  But I'm not that kind of girl.  I don't just hug other women's husbands so instead I tried to convey my sympathy with my words and my eyes.  The gal kept talking (which she has always been prone to do, regardless of one's time frame) and went on to tell me how her family was so far apart this season.  It wasn't a new story and did I mention this woman can drone on and on if she has an audience?  I don't mean that to sound crass or mean but...there are just certain types of folks we avoid for reasons like this.

"Just what kind of mean-spirited person are you, Ms. Wandering Through The Bible?!"  

I can feel your outrage through the unseen internet wires.  I can hear your words of disgust towards me as I write.  I can feel the contempt I hold myself in as I am reprimanded by the truths I so valiantly write and expect you to believe I live by.  My head is hung in shame and my eyes are filled with humiliation.

Do you--do I??-- think it was a random coincidence that God allowed these two souls to cross my path yesterday?  The world has not been kind to them--on many levels.  As I reflect back on their lives and truly consider what they have consisted of, I say to myself "Shame on you!  Shame on you, Stefanie, for not being the salt and light that a dear friend wrote that Steve and I were in a Christmas card we received yesterday!  Woe is me.  I have lost my savor!"

Oh Lord, what a hypocrite I was.  You allowed these kids of Yours to cross my path and look how shoddily I treated them.  Oh sure, after I completed my oh-so- important task, I gave them my undivided attention for the next ten minutes as I listened to their plight.  I finally gave the hug that should have been immediate rather than delayed.  I sympathized, emphasized, and criticized the unfairness of it all as we communed there in the photo department.  Merry Christmas wishes were finally exchanged as the conversation came to a conclusion and I walked one way and they another as we continued on to our shopping excursions.

Lord, today You are giving me another opportunity to do better, to not value one person or deed as more important than another.  You are opening my eyes and my heart as I prepare for my day where many more of Your children just may be needing some extra attention today and You may select me as the one to give it to them.  I want to be ready, Lord.  I want to be watching.  I want to see these people through Your eyes and have You be reflected out of my own.  

As I humbly ask You to forgive my selfishness from yesterday, I also boldly ask You for more grace and love so that I can be better today.  Will You grant it to me, Father?  Remind me I am here for You and not for myself.  Whatever good deeds may be accomplished through me I want to give 100% from start to finish.  Help me I pray, in the sweet name of Jesus.  Amen.