Groceries

Or more aptly entitled friends in need.  I think a lot about friends of mine who were or are in need.  Maybe because I have been and most likely will be in the future--a friend in need.  Right now I might not need money or food.  I might just need a shoulder to cry on or a friend who understands my emotions.  Someone who can just listen and not judge.  Someone who doesn't say--you got yourself into this mess, it's up to you to get yourself out.  Friends don't need that kind of friendship.  Friends need someone to lean on, someone to walk alongside them, someone who does not judge or critique them.  It's the perfect friend really, the kind of friend that I want anyway, and the kind of friend that I want to be.

And so one day without judging my friend, God used me to step up and help out.  This particular friend went to the same church and Bible study that I did.  There were about 30 or so of us in that class.  We'd share needs and pray for each other.  It was all very touchy-feely.  We would talk, cry, pray, and look at what the Bible had to say about this or that.  We would try hard not to judge and we didn't talk about each other outside of that little room.  We wanted to be good friends to one another--to listen, pray and be real.

One friend in the class was in desperate need.  Her phone and other utilities were being shut off one by one--there was no money to pay the bills.  She was running out of food and she needed us.  We all prayed for her and we cried with her.  We could all pretty much relate, we were all young moms just trying to get by.  I think she felt better when she left that day just because she had unburdened herself.

However, God had another plan for me.  As I was making out my own grocery list the next day, going through my coupons and budget, I felt an overwhelming need to get up right then and go to the store.  I left my list on the counter and off I went.  When I got to the grocery store I began to put the oddest things into my cart.  Things I had never bought before.  Things I didn't like.  But, they weren't for me, now were they?


By the time I had paid and got to my car I knew.  I immediately drove to my friends home, knocked on her door and began unloading the many bags of groceries.  The problem though was that she wasn't home--only her husband and son were there.  Wow, the surprised look on her husband's face.  I didn't really know what to say to him--he didn't go to church and I didn't even know his name.  So, I dumbly said the first thing that came to my mind.

I told him--I'm a friend of your wife from church and I was praying and God told me to bring this food to you.  I was very nervous and most likely looked, sounded and acted like a nut, but when I glanced over at him--he was crying.  He reached over and pulled their grocery wish list off the refrigerator door and handed it to me.  And there on that piece of paper was a list of all the crazy stuff that I had bought at the grocery store.

He came to church after that.  He had seen a miracle that day.  I am sure that they felt very blessed by God.  I am sure that they were thankful and I am sure that their lives were changed.  However, my life changed too.  God used me.  I love that feeling.  I want to be used--by Him.  I want to be used by the God that I love and serve with all my heart.  I want to be that kind of friend.  One who listens doesn't judge, and always serves.  I really, really want to.