Harry & Andrea

At Publix today, I saw a couple in front of me in the bread aisle. I was trying to get around them, but they were blocking the whole aisle. Now the first indicator that God is working in my heart was when I chose not to respond in frustration since they were adding a whole half-second on to my journey to the check out. I am not a patient person if left to my own tendencies. Ask anyone who knows me well-Harry, my mother, Natalie, Alyson, Jennifer…

The second really blew me away because it was the way I responded to what I saw. The woman, who was probably in her 60s, looked at the man, also in his 60s, as if he were more disgusting than the dirt on the bottom of her shoes. He was guiding the cart, while she was looking for something, I presume. She glared at him and said something like, “GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE!” Not exactly yelling, but definitely with as much disdain as she could muster, she spoke to a man who appeared to be her husband as if he were a total idiot.

Now, we both know that it wasn’t about the bread, or the aisle or the fact that I was trying to get around them. But, we also know that what is in our hearts eventually comes out in our actions and words. Happens every day. In every relationship–marriage, friend, parent, child.

Granted, one of my pet peeves is women who talk to their husbands as if they are their children. And God, please convict me when I am tempted this way, because I am not naive enough to think that just because it’s a pet peeve, I don’t have to worry about doing it. Our flesh is very tricky this way.

My typical reaction to a situation like this could be any of the following:

1. Totally ignore it. I can’t really be expected to notice every unloving interaction I see, can I?

2. Think: Ugh. Just get out of my way and don’t make a scene in Publix. Can’t we please act like adults and keep all of our negative conversations in private and keep up appearances.

3. Call Harry right away, relay the situation, and say, “Can you believe she talked to him that way? I would never do that to you. Did they have any idea they weren’t alone?” As any good person who worships self-awareness would do.

However, for some reason, my first thought when I rounded the corner and headed toward the check-out was, my heart is breaking for them. Marriage doesn’t have to be like that. I want to pray for their marriage.  And I did.

And I realized that I want to be doing that for anyone I know who is hurting. I want my first instinct to be to pray for someone I see–not give into disgust/pride of my own, not gossip about them, not ignore it. It was an opportunity that God gave me to lift someone up in prayer. Unfortunately, I usually miss them. But because of God’s mercy today, I remembered to pray. Lord, help me to remember to pray for the people you put in my path on the bread aisle at Publix. Help me just remember to pray.