"She sure is getting big," my favorite Dollar Store clerk commented
as I checked out with my crew in tow the other day.
I blinked, paused and then, agreed. I'm not surprised that Blossom4 is getting big, but it put my mind in forward motion, straight on the fact that Erica has been watching us over the two years that she's worked there. True, I've been shopping there since the store opened. It is also true that Erica witnessed the worst multiple child meltdown in the entire history of my motherhood and yet, she's commented on the girls' good behavior in the store on other trips. That's humbling, let me tell you.
Sometimes folks think that stay-at-home mamas
don't get out enough.
How will they reach their community?
How can we be a witness for Christ?
Driving on to our next errand stop, my mind then drifted back to every Walmart clerk I recognize ~ Elizabeth, Laurel, Ida, the dark-haired lady in cosmetics, the quiet man who enjoys my conversation but rarely speaks in anything other than a whisper.
It helped me see them in a new light.
My thoughts eventually drifted back to my long-time UPS driver, who recently got promoted to a larger truck which can't make it up my driveway. It wasn't until he was gone from our route that I realized I didn't even know his name... after ten-plus years of receiving packages from him!
Another Walmart shopper once stopped me at the Fair, to ask how I was doing. I was confused, until I realized she recognized me from Walmart. I recollected that I'd enjoyed talking to her in the produce section because she was one of the only people who said how much she enjoyed her children and didn't predict that mine were going to turn into headaches. Two years later, when she was purchasing something from my parents' business, she put two and two together and asked how the girls and I were. She remembered us.
We mamas trudge through our errands trying valiantly to avoid meltdowns, blowouts and blowups. We just want to safely maneuver our way through parking lots and aisles with children of all sizes and attitudes in tow.
It's easy to assume we'll never see the folks around us again.
I'm challenging myself to stop thinking like that.
I frequent the same stores, year after year. The glimpses they have of me and our children can add up to a beautiful picture of Jesus and what it means to live for Him.
People remember.
It is assuredly a rapport being built, day after day, year after year.
It could be that I'm the only one in line NOT getting mad or impatient. It could be that I'm the only one insisting that my children do not throw balls in the toy aisle. It could be a smile or a genuine "how are you doing today?" Or, it could be that sometime I have an opening to share the Good News that is near and dear to my heart.
My eyes are opened. These are the ways I reach out to my community,
by taking this little light of mine everywhere I go.
Recently, the Rugged Mountain Man and I took an evening jaunt through the delightful small town where we spent our first year of marriage. Though our long-time favorite restaurant is closing down, we still enjoyed the nostalgic sights of the country roads.
