My Milk Mercy

Tonight, my mom reminded me that I was out of milk, and that I needed to go get some. I'm glad that she gave me something to do. Earlier today I was supposed to go help out with a service project, but I somehow forgot that I had a school assignment due at 6pm, so I had to stay home and do that. Since I missed out on the service project, I had this feeling of emptiness, like I hadn't done anything productive in the day. This feeling was starting to grow into a plain negative and low spirited vibe, so I was happy to follow my mom's orders and get out.

"Where to go?" I thought. I could go to Frys, which is so close, I could go to Walmart, or I could go to WinCo!!! I thought driving by the Gilbert Temple would lighten my spirit, so I eliminated Frys from the mix, and now the decision was between Walmart or WinCo. Well, WinCo has the word WIN in it, so that should obviously be my choice if I want to be a WINNER at life, right? Plus, it's way more spacious than Walmart, and I like spacious buildings (as long as they are NOT Great and Spacious Buildings). 

Once I got to WinCo, I traveled the long journey through the store to where the milk is located, grabbed my lactose/fat free carton, and traveled back to the front. I usually like to use those fancy self check-outs, but to my dismay, they were closed for the night. There was only one register open, so I got in line behind a woman with a large array of groceries. Not only did she have a lot of groceries, but A LOT of coupons to go with those! And there I stood, with my one carton of milk...

Finally, the long line up of her groceries was nearly over, but then, that woman received a phone call. Oh goody! I could see the annoyed look in the employees eyes as she struggled to communicate with the woman that her coupons were not valid. I heard the man standing behind me comment on how rude it is when people are on the phone while going through the check-out line. I was starting to feel impatient myself, but as I listened to the woman's phone conversation, I could tell that there was some distress in her voice. I overheard her mentioning a couple of medical terms, and asking whoever she was talking to if her daughter knew about this. 

The employee was still annoyed as she waited for the woman to pay for her groceries, and her annoyed state only grew stronger when the woman gave her the wrong amount of money at first. Finally as the employee was giving this woman her receipt, the woman hung up the phone, and then apologized. She said she was sorry for her behavior, and that she had to take the call because her husband was in the hospital. The employee just nodded and pointed to where the woman's groceries were (because at WinCo, you bag your own groceries). 

Next the employee quickly rang up my milk in less than a minute. I walked to the bagging end, to grab my milk and noticed that the woman with the endless amount of groceries had not even started bagging hers yet. I asked her if she would like some help, and she looked up at me and said "Oh no thanks, I've held you up enough." with a little nervous laugh, but her eyes were watery with tears. 

When I see people cry, I get all choked up myself, (and I was already a little choked up from not being in the brightest of moods), so all I could do was smile at her, and completely ignore her rejection to my help. Thankfully, she didn't get upset, and just let me help her. We also took her groceries out to her car. When we were all finished up, she thanked me. All I said was "Oh, no problem", but I wish I would have told her that I was the one that needed to be thankful. 

This little experience at WinCo is what I needed tonight. It gave me an opportunity to serve. It helped me steer my thoughts away from the things that were pressing on my mind, and filled me with love. It reminded me of the importance of being faithful, kind, patient to anyone we meet, because we don't always know what kind of day they have had or what limitations they may be struggling with. Marvin J Aston said:“If we could look into each other’s hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.” And just like with others, we need to be faithful and patient with ourselves, and the circumstances we experience everyday, because we don't always know what is in store for us. We can't always see through Heaven's eyes. We don't always know Heavenly Father's plan for us at the moment, but He is always in control, and His plan is always perfect.