‘Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the mall,
Shoppers with gift cards were having a ball.
I was among them, reveling in one of my favorite activities: bargain hunting. There’s something exhilarating about combing through a rack of clothing, which everyone else has passed by, and finding a gem. Marked down. At least twice.
Ruth of the Old Testament gleaned Boaz’ fields (Ruth 2:2-3); I glean sales racks.
Field of Boaz (Photo credit: Seetheholyland.net)
This particular December 26 while browsing in Macy’s, a true treasure emerged from the rejects: a lined, flowing silk skirt, black, with vertical stripes of rust and taupe. Down each stripe ran a subtle pattern of flowers.
Such an elegant, versatile skirt would be a great addition to my wardrobe, I thought. Warily I searched for the tag. Although tucked among the clearance merchandise, it still might cost too much. There was no tag.
So I headed to the nearest cashier counter for a price check.
Now if you’ve ever shopped on December 26, you know the importance of taking plenty of patience with you. It’s probably the second busiest shopping day of the whole year, right behind Black Friday. Long lines at the cash register are just part of the process.
in line (Photo credit: iowa_spirit_walker)
Imagine my delight to see only two people at the counter.
Customer #1 didn’t take very long at all. Fantastic.
Customer #2 was returning merchandise that she had received as a gift. And although it was from Macy’s, her gift came from out-of-state. This particular store didn’t carry that pant-and-sweater set. Now what? The cashier didn’t know.
The manager was called. Wait. Wait. Wait.
She didn’t know what to do either.
I scanned the surrounding area, looking for another counter where I might get waited on sooner. They were backed up, too. Might as well stay put.
Phone calls ensued. Wait. Wait. Wait.
Finally, someone at the other end of the line knew what to do and explained the steps to follow. Wait. Wait. Wait.
Of course, the steps were not easy to follow. A few missteps occurred. Wait. Wait. Wait.
At long last, the customer left with a receipt. To her credit, she apologized for taking so long. I said something like, “These things happen. Can’t be helped.” I even smiled. After all, it wasn’t her fault.
To the credit of Ms. S. P. (Sales Person), she, too, apologized for the delay, and cheerfully asked how she could help me.
“I might want to buy this skirt, but there’s no tag.”
She looked it over, but Miss S.P. didn’t find a tag either.
“Tell you what,” she said. “Since you were so nice about the situation with the last customer, I’ll just ring it up with this.” She pulled over another skirt, sitting in a fluff on the end of the counter. The price? Under $7.00.
“I’ll take it!” I cried, and whispered a prayer of gratitude to God. That super-bargain skirt seemed like a gift from him, almost a reward for my patience.
God has said, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10).
Does that mean God rewards every good deed with a gracious blessing? No, I’d become a very spoiled daughter of the King if he did that. In addition, any good deeds I might undertake would be generated by wrong motives.
And please, don’t pat me on the back either. I’m not confrontational by nature anyway. It wasn’t that hard to wait, smile, express understanding, and be patient.
But. Blessings like that skirt come just often enough to remind us:
He’s watching.
He’s appreciating.
There are even moments He’s smiling, because of the choices we make.
The satisfaction in those realities is a glorious blessing in itself.
From the Inside Out 