florescent blessings

Most of you reading this are probably here looking for updates and reflections of my time in Turkey. Well, you'll have to keep waiting. I'm still processing. I am actually putting together a presentation/talk to give to, well, you if you want to hear it, but mainly to my home church (1st Presbyterian Bentonville) and to the youth group. Soon enough, my friends, you will experience what all Turkey has done in me, soon enough. For now, please enjoy this installment of

"Aldi for One, and One for Aldi" (from yesterday's journal entry):

'Life sits happily in my heart and soul tonight. Something was just "right" about today. I don't really know exactly what it was...Can't put my finger on exactly the moment that all was clicking...but something what "there."

My day was probably this good because I began it by studying the Word (indeed, God whispers to me, that is was so). It was a bit of a haphazard study, but isn't life? It would be nice to have some kind of guide...Maybe I'll just write my own. I had lunch with the Rakes', Mama Thistle, Kayla, Chandra, and Dylan Kayla, my new favorite baby in the whole entire world. We ate at some kind of Celtic restaurant and pub in Bentonville (could be a soft "c," could be a hard "c," nobody will ever truly know). Nice place, I suppose. I opted for the $2.99 salad and soup bar. Not too authentic, but Corned Beef and Hash and the "Shamrock Pizza" just seemed too authentic.

The highlight (I seem to be narrowing it down now) was my stop at The Grove offices. I learned the ropes for my new cleaning job. Dave H., whom I affectionately call "the hairy-legged secretary," showed me the ins and outs of the office and gave me free reign over any dust bunnies, cob webs, mold, dirt, mud, and/or smudge. And, I am allowed to organize! Throw in a White Chocolate Magmum and the offices might just resemble heaven in my mind. What an awesome partnership, serving and doing what I love to do.

I went shopping for cleaning supplies and had a beautiful moment at Aldi. Yes, the Aldi store. I've never been in one before, but plan definitely to go back. Something that I've never seen happen at a market/store happened today. As I shopped among the pallets of off-brand foods and generic merchandise I felt a huge sense of community among the shoppers. I'm not even sure how to describe it. It was like everyone just "knew." Most were there with more coupons than dollar bills. Families, couples, a few elderly. They all seemed to sense eachother's hardships and accepted that each must be carrying just as many burdens as the next. As I stood in line between a tiny Asian woman and an elderly Hispanic man in his Tyson uniform, I observed a man buying snacks for his son's Boyscout troop, undoubtedly. I knew this because the woman behind him in line had started a conversation with him, and I listened in:

"I remember those days...boy, those boyscouts sure can eat a lot....Oh, they'll gobble that down," she commented. "You think that'll be enough!?" she questioned, as the clerk counted 24 small cups of yogurt and 6 or so cans of beenie-weenies.

The lady was obviously a smoker, but how she fed the habit, I have no idea. Her purchases were some pre-wrapped peppers, a box of cereal, and toilet paper. I was allowed my entry into the check-out line graciously by the Hispanic man who insisted I get in front of him because I did not have a basket and was balancing 4 or 5 cleaning supplies on my person. He couldn't believe the price of the fruit juice as he remarked to me, "Only $1! It so good!" as he chugged some more in our wait.

I don't know what it was, but we all connected. I felt the dad's hope that his son's troop would appreciate and like his choice of snacks, even though they were the off-brand; and, I felt how much he hoped his son would not be ashamed that his dad coudn't afford the fruit roll-ups and real Coca-Cola. I was with the woman as she unfolded the coupons to pay for the toilet paper. I was proud, too, with the Hispanic man for his great juice find, and enjoyed that cool, refreshing zing the kiwi coctail provided after a long day at the plant. But, I've never been in the position and place in life as any of my fellow shoppers...and probably never will be.

God made my blessings florescent to me. He allowed me to step into the lives of his children who are not as "stable" as I, and I only wish I could have stayed longer. Our family of shoppers could never have formed so quickly at a Wal-Mart or Target. Excess is too available there. At the Aldi, we were buying the bare minimum, but thankful for even that.'