Unexpected Delight

I went shopping yesterday. It was a poor day to choose to shop. It was pouring down rain and cold. It was a Friday and lots of people chose that day to shop. It was the day before a huge production at church so my phone buzzed continuously all day long with one thing or another. In fact it should have been a loser of a day. Only, it wasn't.

At my first stop I found some of the things I was looking for on sale. This is always a good thing to have happen right out of the box. One of the workers at this particular store is slightly disabled and has taken a shine to me. He always comes up and hugs me every time he sees me. This can be a problem because if he sees me on the same day in the store more than once he wants to hug me again. But yesterday he was content to tell me I am beautiful, hug me once and let me shop. The store was busy but everyone was pleasant and some were quite cordial. One lady tried to run me over with her cart, but was both properly remorseful and amused at the situation as I was. We had a good giggle together.

Leave stop one several hours later and move on to stop two. Two of the fellow shoppers from stop one are present in store two and that cracks me up. I begin to feel we are hunting in packs. I run into a mom and several small children. They are in the Christmas prepacked gift aisle and they are trying to find a gift for the right price. They cannot agree how to spend their money and the mom is so sweet and so patient and listens to each child without getting antsy and I am in awe. She is a beautiful lady, her children are darling and watching them shop has been a delight. She turns to me and flashes one of those bright white grins. It was so much fun I think I could just follow them around for awhile. I meandered quite a bit, I had child care covered so I was a free agent and I acted like one! I watched people, I compared colors and sizes and prices. I tried to picture the nature and character of each person who might wear or use whatever it was I was buying. It was very restful and relaxing.

Leaving for stop three was a dark, cold, wet experience. The parking lots was very full, the puddles were standing everywhere, I was starting to feel tired and a little cranky. I thought this is where this trip goes south. But I got into the store and the store was bright, the decorations were delightful and right off the bat I found the very thing I wanted. I watched with a great deal of amusement as a red headed toddler sat in the front of the cart and made brrrrring sounds to entertain himself. His mom noticed from time to time too and she got such a look of contentment and joy on her face it was inspirational. Oh that we would all know that kind of love. I struggled to find exactly the right things that matched, but not because of lack of selection but the number needed. It was fun to wander and decide what would be best. The check out line was a little long but several more were opened and it went quickly. It was still cold, still wet, still dark but I was no longer cranky.

I am just about finished with Christmas shopping. I am ready to mail off packages to family far away. I am ready to wrap and sort and cook and organize and clean and all the other things one must do for the holidays. I guess cards MUST go out and I will make the attempt to see that happens this week. I am also going to remember the delightful family shopping, the darling little redhead and the fun it is to think of those you love and find things you think will be the perfect gift. Jesus really is the reason for the season, and you can find Him everywhere you look, if you will look expectantly. This is my Christmas wish for each of you.