God's Reminder

Last Friday I got off work early and went and did a little grocery shopping. I went to Publix 'cause its across the street from my house and I didn't want to fight all the people at Wal-Mart on a Friday afternoon. For those of you non-Nashvillians let me explain Publix.

It's one of those grocery stores where the employees are essentially paid to be nice and talk with the customers. Unlike Wingerts, everyone smiles and is friendly...asking if they need help with anything...etc.

As I was checking out I was very proud of myself for the amount of money saved. It was a lot for me! My exuberance bubbled over and Lorin asked if he could walk me to my car and help with the groceries. (I had four bags.)

Lorin is the grandpa type. He has a few wisps of white hair left on the top of his head, he's jaw is set with an pointy overbite and he is missing a few of his side teeth making his lisp very pronounced. I forget how it started, but on the way to the car he starts singing "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and explains the meaning of that song. People were so excited to meet Jesus they had to go an tell. We talked a little bit about this, and as he goes to walk away he shared part of his journey with me.

It seems last January Lorin was at Vanderbilt having triple (?) by-pass surgery on his heart. He shouldn't have been alive to help me with my groceries and he was thankful for another day's breath. Top it off, what his insurance didn't cover the doctors, nurses, hospital staff had wiped his bill clean, he didn't owe a penny to anyone. $135,000 surgery had been paid for. He looked me squarely in the eye and says "Nothing is impossible for God. Absolutely nothing." As he walked away I heard him singing "Go, tell it on the mountain..."

As I sat behind the steering wheel I just smiled, thanking God for his reminders and for Lorin's faithfulness in sharing his journey.