Just Be Patient

     Just the other day I was standing in line at the grocery store. I had 4 items and walked up to the '20 items or less' check out line. I got behind a lady who had 3 seperate orders of 20 items each - so 60 items. I know because I counted them. She also had every sales paper from the other stores and pointed out a lower price to which the cashier had to match on a high percentage of her items. Why not just shop at those stores you might think? I do give her credit for attempting to save money. But how inconsiderate is it to have 60 items in the fast check lane? Not 23 or 26 but 60? It was very hard for me to not show my impatience in an outward manner. But why does this bother us? Are we so used to getting things very quickly that we cannot stand in a line for 10 minutes? Or does our problem go deeper than that? She was bogging down the fast line so much that I changed lanes rapidly when they opened a new lane. But the real question is are we going to let other people control our moods? Does this lady or the actions of others determine how we are feeling? At the moment, she very much controlled my emotions. I allowed her inconsideration to cause distress and frustration in me. These are the types of things we must struggle to control. The actions of others should have no bearing or impact upon our joy. Our joy is the Lord and He is unchanging. Even in our deepest sorrow, He is our well-spring of life....

Invasion Grocery Store

Have you ever noticed that people tend to park on the handicap ramp at Walmart? I feel outraged every time I walk by. But where does the outrage come from? Is it stemming from a social injustice because the handicapped need the ramp to get up and down out of the parking lot? Or is it something more self-centered and sinister? Perhaps I want to park there and my inner nature struggles with the right and wrong of it all. Maybe I want a spot next to the door and it has nothing to do with the considerations for the handicapped. Why must we struggle against our own flesh? My intellect says that is plainly wrong but somewhere in the back of my mind creeps that desire to do it anyway. I have given my life to Jesus but yet I struggle on at times. One day we will be made perfect and not have such struggles. But, alas, until that day, we must fight the inner desires and push upward....