One December evening, I went to Target to finish up some shopping with a friend. We soon went in different directions searching for our gifts. I wandered through the jewelry section looking for special somethings I had in mind for two people I love. I doubled back to look again. I hadn’t initially found what I was looking for, but this time I saw an older woman shopping with her family. I smiled at her and she thanked me for smiling. She said, “I needed that smile.” I asked her about her day and she replied that she had not had a good day. Another reminder that the holidays are very hard for some of us. You see her brother-in-law and her husband of 56 years had both passed away in the previous 4 months. Her brother-in-law had left them their home in Menifee. Well, a very short time after moving in, she found her husband dead on the floor of their new home. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Such tragic loss is so difficult to bear.
Right there on the Target floor she told me she was a reverend and that she was always helping other people. She wanted to help her family with all the prep of the holidays, but she just couldn’t be there mentally. Right now she couldn’t even concentrate enough to shop. She was grieving deeply. I looked at her and told her that it was okay not to be okay. I’m a firm believer if you don’t feel the deep emptiness that grief brings, then it won’t get better. I reminded her that it’s okay to tell others that you just can’t be there like you usually are.
I advised her that now is a time to let others minister to her. She has given of herself for so many years, and it is her turn to receive. I shared with her how grief is unpredictable, and comes in waves as random things or events trigger memories. Some days will be normal, and some days stop moving forward as the empty feelings of loss wash over. She hugged me and told me that God had sent me there tonight to encourage her. We exchanged names and I told her I would be praying for her. She hugged me again and said I was an angel. Well, I think she was the angel sent to me.
One of my favorite Christmas songs is Winter Snow by Audrey Assad. The words say:
“You could have come as a mighty storm with all the strength of a hurricane.
You could have come like a forest fire with the power of heaven in your flame.
But You came like a winter snow, quiet, and soft and slow, falling from the sky in the night to the earth below.
You could have swept in like a tidal wave or an ocean surrounding our hearts.
You could have come through like roaring flood to wipe away the things we scar.
But you came like a winter snow.
You were quiet. You were soft and slow, falling from the sky in the night to the earth below.
No, your voice wasn’t in the bush burning.
No, your voice wasn’t in the rushing wind.
It was still it was small it was hidden.
You came like a winter snow, quiet and soft and slow, falling from the sky in the night to the earth below.”
Recently, I prayed that I would be able to slow down enough this busy season to hear Him as this softly falling snow. I specifically prayed that He would show me how He is in the details of every moment of today so that I can see Him for the gift that He is. Within minutes I saw the most gorgeous sunrise of purple and orange brilliance. I stopped my car to snap a picture and am so glad I did because the brilliance faded within about two minutes. If I hadn’t stopped to notice or was not willing to slow down, I would have missed it.
If I hadn’t put down my shopping list to be present for my divine appointment in Target, I would have missed it. Just like that soft winter snow, are the promptings of the Holy Spirit. My job is to listen and obey. God will work out the rest. How many things have I missed recently because I was simply too busy? But this time I chose what was better. I chose to stop and notice Jesus in the stranger in Target. What an incredible meeting I will never forget. Today, let’s try to remember the gift that Jesus is more than the ones we are racing around to buy. Don’t miss your divine appointments this season.
0 Comments