Yesterday I got a lesson in what is truly important.
I was at the grocery store (of all places), Harris-Teeter (not AT ALL sure how they came up with the name…Harris family-ya, owns the town…but Teeter? All I know is that the name became less weird with the knowledge that Carrie Underwood shops at a Harris-Teeter…I digress…) checking out my purchases at the counter when I noticed her. She was the tiniest lady I had ever seen and, if not for her pleasant demeanor, I may never have noticed her at all. She was smiling. Just sitting on a bench by customer service with a grin as big as Switzerland plastered on her face.
It was apparent that many significant events happened within her lifetime. Her snow-white hair and worn, leathery complexion chronicled war (at least four), most likely the depression (not this one!), perhaps even familiarity of the last banking crisis (the one where once-rich/now-poor people jumped out of buildings).
But she was smiling.
A basically empty shopping cart sat in front of her not quite four-foot frame, a scene not unusual when I notice elderly shoppers; particularly for someone of such stature. My own groceries began to pile up at the end of the conveyor belt though, and for a moment my attention refocused to my own staples and “needs.” I lost sight of the lil lady.
As I packed up the last of my things, another tiny gray-haired lady appeared. “They MUST be sisters,” I surmised. She too had a broad grin on her face and, with little fanfare, she approached the bench and gathered her companion. I waited patiently as they steadied themselves on the cart and then watched as these two beautiful, petite, contented ladies gracefully headed toward the exit.
It was then I noticed what was in the cart.
1 six-pack of Ensure and 2 four-packs of BareFoot wine.
If and when I get to those advanced years you can bet those will be my priorities! Food, the type that takes no preparation, and wine. It is my opinion (remember I used to have one) that these ladies, well advanced in years and wisdom, knew what was truly most important.
JK
However, moving right along on my counseling journey, I want to give more ink to what is truly most important in this soul-seeking adventure; my goal. What AM I really trying to change… my behavior? Do I simply want to be a better person, to follow through on commitments I have made in a timely manner and therefore not disappoint others? Or better yet, I know that sloth is sinful, should holy living my goal? No, says author, biblical counselor and pastor Jay Adams, “Human relationships are a three-way, not a two-way affair. That means that biblically acceptable change takes into consideration one’s relationships to both God and man….Sanctification, change toward God, is the goal of all Christian counseling.”
If devoid of heart transformation, outward behavior change as well as external physical change that conforms to Gods law might be pleasant for myself and those I interact with but it does not please God.
Sort of important to get this right.
Keep waitin for it…
