Thrilled

I am absolutely thrilled that Beth invited me to co-author her blog. Beth, I love you, and I am already inspired by your posts. I want to be a hope-filled person in all areas of my life all the time, especially during the holiday season. I will comment soon with my prayer requests because heaven knows I need some prayer in my life right now!
Well, I wanted to kick off my first post with a little un-related story that happened to me yesterday at the grocery store. I guess I think that one thing that makes blogging and just living in community in general fun is being who we really are.
So I'll get on with it.... one of the greatest stressors in my week (that's assuming I go every week, which I do not) is grocery shopping. I absolutely hate it. I hate the process of taking things from the shelf to the cart to the belt to the bag to the cart to the car to my counter to my pantry. In this day and age there has GOT to be an easier way. I also hate the money, choices, smell, time commitment. But when I really think about it (and I am a counselor who has also been in counseling where this issue may or may not have come up :) I think it is about body image, weight gain, etc. So my biggest fear at the store is that people might be looking in my cart. I am super paranoid that people can know what I am buying. I shudder at the thought of the cashier commenting on my purchases. "Just scan the items young man!" So yesterday I'm looking over the pitiful fish section at Bag and Save and low and behold a man looks in my cart and says "I like bacon." I smile back (I had just put bacon in my cart) and TRY to be kind. "Me too." Then he CLEARLY looks directly at the four things in my cart and says "Maybe you should have a Velvetta and bacon sandwich." About to jump right out of my skin I say "Or potato soup" and start walking away. He shouts out "What do you use for your stock?" UG! I all but yell over my shoulder "milk and chicken broth" and jog into the produce section to buy super healthy things like leafy greens and yogurt (okay, I skipped the leavy greens, who am I kidding!). On second thought, I hope milk and chicken broth are considered "stock."
I got a good laugh out of this LATER, but through it I remembered that God is in the small stuff. That he cares about the big things in my life right now (like raising a son and starting a new job) and that he cares about the little things like annoying men helping me realize my fears at the grocery. I think that is why I am looking forward to this book study and blog. I NEED a God that is BIG enough to send his Son on Christmas Day and yet still wants to get into the crevices of my life and cares about the small things. I Praise Him this morning.
If you are just checking this blog out for the first time I hope that you will consider buying the book and reading it with us. We are working on making it a little easier for people to post, but at minimum you just need a google account and I am sure you can do that in 30 seconds.
We need one another this holiday season, because God is in the small stuff of your life, too!