Jesus in the Grocery Store

Earlier this week I made my usual pilgramage to Kroger and since I had more items than would reasonably make it through the self check out I stood and waited at an old-fashioned conveyor belt to let someone else ring up my food. A chubby white boy in front of me unloaded several heavy items for his gruff and frazzled mother who barely restrained herself from snarling at him. Despite her sour mood the young black clerk scanning her groceries remained polite and charming. As they left and I unloaded my own cart of canned goods he and I struck up a conversation. It seemed to me that he was having a hard day, however his attitude was so cheerful that I couldn't help but ask what kept him upbeat. His response was a humble gesture. He simply made a cross over himself with his right hand.

"You mean Jesus?," I asked "Are you a Christian?"

"Exactly," he answered.

My own perspective was overshadowed by the exam looming ahead of me at the end of the week. He asked if I had prayed about it. This seemed remarkable to me. Long ago in college I stopped praying for tests as a general habit and only briefly mentioned them the night before to God as I was going to sleep. I guess it seemed that something so trivial as a test should not be brought up in prayer when there were more important issues at hand. My check-out guy went on to say that he wished he'd prayed more in college for extra motivation to study. He knew that the Lord would have blessed him if he had only asked. I found myself marvelling at his humble dependency on the Lord. I suppose my pride played a major role in my test taking strategy. Then as I left he thanked me for witnessing to him. I walked out to my car shaking my head in surprise and thinking about his advice.

Tonight I made a late night run for post-exam celebration food and guess who was manning the self check-out lanes. Since our earlier conversation I did spend time praying about the exam. And I prayed for motivation to study as well. As I told him this in the middle of the grocery store he smiled a big wide smile. "I really felt the Lord with me this week, and I had a new diligence about studying. I met all the goals that I set and I met them on time!" Today as I sat taking the exam I found myself humming a hymn and feeling at peace (which has never happened before). It's amazing that God still works in both the minutiae and the big decisions of my life. To echo my favorite grocery store clerk, "Praise the Lord!"