Biblical Parables at Grocery Depot

The old lady came by, her hands full of food items. She was hesitant, not sure if she would have enough money to buy everything.

“$7.80,” I said.

The lady pulled out her money; a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill, creased and wrinkled. Deep in her pocket she found a handful of change. Seven quarters. One nickel. She had enough money to buy her food!

After paying for her food she had a handful of scant change, mostly pennies, leftover. To my astonishment she reached over and dumped it all into the “give-a-penny take-a-penny” jar.

“For a rainy day,” she said.

Then she left, and all I could think about was the widow giving her two mites.

…

A woman came in holding a little black bag, in which was a small white thing that looked like camera equipment. “Someone dropped this,” she said.

I set it on the counter behind me and continued checking out customers.

Later, a group of teenage boys came in, looking very agitated. The most agitated of them all turned to me. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have a lost and found would you?”

“No,” I said, “what did you loose?”

“It was a bird’s eye camera lens, worth fifty dollars,” he said sounding very sad.

“Is it this?” I held up the apparatus which the woman had brought in earlier.

“Oh yes, YES!” he said, running over and taking it from my hands. Then he left, smiling and looking like I’d just made his year.

I couldn’t help but think of that parable of the woman loosing her coin, and rejoicing like crazy when it was found.

…

I just have to add to this post a copy of a comment I got on my last post that made my day:

Good for you, Emily. Sending my 15 year old Dd to read your post. I wish I could have gone to college when I was younger and wanted to. I was absalutely forbidden to do that–not one teeny, tiny class–by my church who felt that all education past 8th grade was suspect, and certainly that any thing past 12th was the straight road to hell. Now I am a busy mom with 5 children . . . several special needs . . . and there is no way for me to go to college. But I havent’ lost my dream and some day I think I will. Even if I can only go when I’m so old that I can only “audit” classes for free. I will keep learning.