Angels in Wal-Mart?

Are there angels in Wal-Mart?  If you would ask me I would probably say not likely.  Now I'm not so sure.  We were doing our weekly shopping on Friday when I ran into a bunch of "throw rugs" in one of those "middle of the aisle boxes" that seem to say this is a "real deal!"  Before I could pass by I remembered someone mentioning my office at St. Mark's with its new tile floor could use a rug to help warm up the environment.  Now here I was standing in front of several reasonably priced "throw rugs" (who ever thought up that name?)  And so I chose a multi-colored piece reasoning how anyone could ever match the tan color of the tile would be impossible.  Then a solid black rug caught my eye.  It looked rich and lush and I began to ponder my choice. (a woman's prerogative)  My wise husband suggested the black would look the best.  He has a good eye for this sort of thing so I decided, yes, the black would do nicely.  Just as I picked it up and put it into the basket a young man came over and said, "Did you know the rug has skulls and cross bones carved into it?"  "Really, are you kidding?"  I answered.  My next retort was, "Do you think it would go in a pastor's office, I am one you know,"  I said smiling.  The young man just got an odd look on his face and stumbled away.  Looking more closely at the rug we discovered, yes, you could see the skull and cross bones faintly below carved into the fabric. 

Needless to say I did not take the rug.  And I was grateful to have been warned.  We laughed at the thought of me taking it to the church and unrolling it before my desk in the brand newly remodeled office only to see the surprise the rug contained.  You might think little of this except I felt that "feeling" I get once in a while when the message being delivered is bigger than the words spoken.  And in the blink of an eye the young man was no where to be found when we looked around, another confirmation this was something unusual.  Now, I don't think the message had anything to do with saving me from making a decorating error.  I believe the lesson was sometimes we need to look closely and carefully at where we are headed and what or whom we are taking with us.  The "feeling" was spiritual and my husband felt it too.  Sometimes God speaks to us boldly by saying, "Stop and look carefully, include me in your decisions big and small.

Okay, God I'm listening, even in Wal-Mart.

The Kitchen

Our kitchen is old and sorely in need of a remodel. However it an unwritten rule that every time someone is invited for supper regardless of where you plan to eat everyone ends up in the kitchen! The kitchen seems to always be the heart of the home, a place where meals are fixed, families and company congregate, serious discussions are held, homework is completed, and a sort of sensory DNA is imparted to multiple generations through smell, taste and tradition. As a child I recall sitting in the kitchen every evening watching my mom fix supper and just talking. Those talks were foundational to whom I have become. Wisdom came from my questions about life and the conversational answers given. The conversations around the dinner table also were nightly a debate over history, politics and ethics. My father and brothers kept the conversation lively to say the least. And despite the heated voices from time to time everyone left the table with much to consider and no one was mad.

Today we might try to convince ourselves that technology is the most important component of our lives but I would offer this thought. How many of us can find a sense of joy and connection when we think of those times spent in the kitchen? Holidays are started and ended there, company and family gathers there, the smell of mom's or grandma's special dish linger in our memory and we equate our time spent there as valuable to us and others.

It all makes me hopeful that in God's house there is a BIG kitchen. Do you suppose?