50 Cents....How God Opened My Eyes Today

Sometimes there are unexpected moments in the day when God decides to show up in front of me in ways I wouldn't have expected.  That happened to me again today.  God is always working and visible in life in a number of ways, but sometimes I think He makes special appointments to teach us a thing or two or just so we slow down and open our eyes a little wider to the things that He sees.  I can't stop thinking about this, so it was time to write.

So I was standing in line at the grocery store.  I had picked up the two items I needed in the bustling store, quickly headed to the check-out lines, and discovered that all the lines were long.  After telling myself that it was a weekend and of course it would be busy and to just get over it and get in a line to start waiting, I chose a line.  It, of course, looked like one of the faster ones.  I looked specifically at how many items each of the people in front of me had.  After spotting the baskets (not carts) in their hands, I knew this was a safe bet. 

After several minutes of waiting, getting frustrated, making glances to the other lines to see how fast they were moving, and, to be honest, getting a little annoyed (who doesn't, when you think you've chosen the fast line, only to find out it was the slow one!), God stopped me in my tracks.  He directed my attention to the woman who was currently getting checked out.  I saw her basket on the ground, and she was slowly, two or three pieces at a time, pulling a few things out and putting them on the counter.  My first thought was wondering why she wasn't moving a little faster and taking everything out of the basket at once.  I'm not sure how much she had taken out of her basket initially, but at this point, there were probably still 15-20 small items in the basket. 

After each handful of items she put on the counter, she would wait for the cashier to ring it up and bag it, then listen for the total.  It became very clear to me after a few moments that she only had a certain amount of money available, and she needed to be sure she had enough for each item.  The items looked like some of the basic essentials, and she had probably picked up all the things she needed, then hoped that she would have enough to purchase all of it.  Several times, the cashier rang up the new total, then the woman looked a little relieved and would reach down to her basket, rummage around a bit, and pick a few more items.  She was clearly trying to decide which items she needed the most, and which she could do without.  As I watched her, I started to wonder....Who is this woman?  What's her story?  What is her home life like?  Does she have a family?.....

I was glad for her when I saw that she was able to put more and more on the counter.  In my mind, I was cheering her on with each item, thinking she might actually be able to buy everything in her basket!  Then it was down to the last couple items, the total rang up, and she said something to the cashier.  Apparently she had reached her limit.  She couldn't have the last things.  I stared, dumbfounded, at the last two things in her basket, knowing they weren't very expensive.  But she couldn't afford to buy them.  She started to pay.  I thought, "Here I am, with my awesome imported pop-tarts for my roommate and my bottle of water and the fun shirt I just bought in the bag in my hand, and she can't afford to spend the small amount to buy her last couple items."

God bolted me out of shock mode and practically spoke for me and pushed me forward.  I quickly offered to pay for the last two items.  They rang up, I quickly did the math from pesos to cents and thought, "Oh my goodness, that was 50 cents".  50 cents.  50 cents.  How quickly we can spend 50 cents on anything.  How valuable 50 cents was to this woman.  She was a little in disbelief, looking at me with a strange but grateful look, and got teary as she thanked me.  I kind of looked back at her in disbelief and managed a smile, but thinking, "I didn't do anything.  I gave you 50 cents.  That's nothing."  I think I still stood in shock as she kept wiping her eyes, took her bags, and walked off.

The point isn't that I helped her.  The point is that God opened my eyes.  It's amazing how quickly we get caught up in our daily, rushed lives.  Especially those moments when WE have an agenda or an expectation that isn't quite being met.  How quickly we get frustrated or annoyed at random people who are doing something to allow our expectations or desires to go unmet.  Frustration and annoyance toward people we don't even know.  We don't know their story.  We don't know their history.  We don't know anything about their lives, their families, their struggles, their joys, their pain, their needs, their desires, their dreams.

Maybe, just maybe, God wants us to take a few moments and take our eyes off of ourselves and open them to the world around us.  Even strangers.  That's the hardest part for me.  I have a hard time talking to people I don't know.  The fear of the unknown about that person makes me shy and timid.  However, God wants to show people His love - and we're the instruments He wants to use, as uncomfortable as it may be.  How many opportunities do we pass by in a day, just because of our own pride and selfishness?  How many lives could we have changed, just for a moment, or a moment that may last a lifetime for that person?  Do we see what God sees?  Do we hear what God hears?  Do our hearts break at the things that breaks God's heart?  Can we allow God to open our eyes in a chaotic, noisy, stressful grocery store checkout line?  My hope and my prayer is that I can begin to answer "yes" more ever day.