I managed to get 3 stores in before I picked up Brian which meant I only had one more stop WITH him: Crest. Crest Foods- the place where everyone in Midwest City hangs out. I decided to wait until after his nap so that I could nap with him and maybe get a little energy back. My precious son barely slept an hour and as he was leaning over me saying, "Mommy, let's get up!" I wanted to cry because I was sleeping so hard I had the imprint of the pillow on my face. But I got up. And we went.
I just happened to pick the week of the "Anniversary Sale" which made it even more crowded. Not only was everyone in Midwest City there, but so were their aunt's cousin's boyfriend's stepmom and her dog. I was so tired and that is where I had to buy most of my stuff. Brian was done about 10 minutes into the trip and wanted to get out of the cart. So he was whiny. By the time I get up to the cashier after waiting in line, I was whiny too. And the cashier, who was about 18 years old, was a talker. She asked me about certain foods I bought and if they were good. She asked about my couponing. She asked if I had been to the new outlet mall. She told me about how she had applied for other jobs. She told me about this really good yogurt that was on sale for $0.25.
And honestly, I was annoyed.
I made conversation with her and was very friendly because that's just how I am, but the entire time I was just thinking about how badly I just wanted to go home and how this was the worst time for this to happen. Brian was still whining in the cart and I still had to unload all the groceries and start dinner when we got home. I was relieved when I finally was able to push us all out to the car.
Then last night as I was reading my bible plan on YouVersion (which is a Joyce Meyer yearly devotional plan) I read about agape love. How it "is the kind of love God has toward His Son and the human race. It's a love that sacrifices." And how it is the ultimate love that we should strive to have. The kind I didn't have today. This part really got me:
It's not difficult to pray for people who are good to you. But it does stretch you to pray for people who have wounded you. It's easy to hang out with your friends at church. But it's harder to seek out that person who looks like they're miserable and alone and just listen to them for awhile. That's agape love. It's sacrificing your comfort to do what's righteous.
You can "agape love' people by being patient with them, by being
understanding with them, by saying something encouraging or by not
saying anything when you could. As humans, we are inherently selfish,
constantly asking, "What about me?' It's time to declare war on
selfishness with the power of agape love.
I immediately thought of the young girl at the store. Yes, I had listened to her talk and asked questions and kept the conversation going, but I didn't really listen. I was too busy preoccupied with myself and how it was affecting ME to take the extra time that I thought I couldn't spare. This showed me that maybe God put me in her line because she NEEDED to talk to someone. Even if it wasn't over anything super important. Maybe she was lonely. Or maybe everyone else she had tried to talk to that day had been rude.
I felt so convicted because of my attitude. I was thankful that God kept me from seeming disinterested towards her or too hurried to talk back with her. But my heart was wrong. I hope that next time I will remember this and show agape love towards someone because I have been shown that kind of love so many times by God.
"God loved the people of this world so
much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him
will have eternal life and never really die."
John 3:16 (CEV)
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