Amazing grace…. this is on my mind today.  I am amazed at the goodness of my God and His absolute faithfulness.  Today I was at Aldi and I was sitting in the parking lot.  An uncommon event as I was grocery shopping today without my girls.  They were at home with their Daddy.  As a moment of silence is rare, I took a second just to sit and meditate on my Lord. It took only moments of thinking about Him when my mind went to His amazing grace.  The greatest gift ever given to me…my salvation. One cannot truly understand what I was experiencing unless you understand the love of the Lord.  I was saved at nine years old.  I had a real experience with God but I did not know then what I know now.  It wasn’t until my mom passed away and life got rough that I truly began to understand what an amazing grace I had been given.  Through my struggles, I cried out to God.  I needed to know Him in a real way.  From that day forward, God took me on a wonderful journey that had led to this day of sitting in an Aldi parking lot in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  What is grace?  What does it mean?  Grace is God giving me what I could not give myself …. Giving me what I did not deserve.  Bringing me from the pit to sit at His right hand.  I sat in the parking lot pinching myself.  Am I really a daughter of God?  How can I have such a wonderful gift?  I am so in love with God and daily I find myself crying out for more.  More understanding of what I have been given.  I said to the Him as I sat there, “Lord I am so in love with you it sometimes hurts.” That deep longing in my heart.

I proceeded to move forward with my day and went into the store.  Quickly and uneventfully I went through each isle getting the things my family needed for the week.  When finished I went through the check-out and paid my bill.  This alone was a great victory for me. For years, this had been very difficult to do.  Before having a great revelation of the absolute faithfulness of my God, William and I struggled to pay the bills.  Back then grocery shopping was stressful!  After swiping my card, I proceeded to the counter to fill my grocery bags.  A few minutes later and older gentleman walked up.  He was there to do the same thing- prepare his groceries for the car.  I had noticed him earlier as I was shopping in the frozen foods section.  An older gentleman dressed in jeans, a pressed untucked white shirt and a white baseball cap.  His arms shook as he picked up each item he needed and placed it into his cart.  As I watched him, my heart felt love for him and great compassion.  Now here he was beside me.  As I continued to busy myself with my work, out of the side of my eye I watched as he struggled to load his groceries into a box.  Each item took him what seemed like minutes although I am sure it was much shorter.  Each piece he lifted he shook greatly as he tried to steady his hand enough to squeeze each item into the box.  I contemplated— Do I help him?  Here I am a small framed, petite woman.  This man was probably strong as an ox in his younger years.  Would asking him if he wanted help in some way hurt his dignity?  I pushed all my thoughts aside and looked at him.  In that moment, our eyes met and I said, “are you getting it?”  He laughed and said, “I am trying.”  Without asking I went over to him and helped him organize and fit in the last of his groceries.  Then I lifted the box and put it into his cart.  He gave me a great big smile and thanked me.  I could feel his admiration.  I asked him if I could help him further and he said “no thank you, I’ve got it from here.”  He walked out of the store and I turned back to what I was doing.  So strong in my spirit I heard the Lord say James 1:27, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”  In that moment, I was overwhelmed by the love of my Lord.  I realized that God had given me that experience as a gift.  I was given the opportunity to be a light in someone’s life and to carry their burden, if for even a couple of minutes.

Such amazing grace!  We will never be able to exhaust God’s endless love, but daily He gives us opportunities to experience it deeper.  I ask you today, are you able to see those opportunities?  And if so, are you taking them?  I urge you to take the time to meditate with God and draw close to Him.  You will not be disappointed.  God added to me today and He will do the same for you.  Just some thoughts for today!