GROCERY LIST


Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.' John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?'

Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said, 'put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.' Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down.
The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.'
The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said: 'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.'

The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth every penny of it.

Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.'

I had lots of fun in Texas this past weekend.  My son Tom and grandson Noah welcomed us at the airport. Then it was on to eat some Tex Mex food. Not my mama's Mexican food but delicious. The melted cheese had the consistency of taffy.  We all cut off pieces of it and spread it on tortillas and chips. Yum!

Hope and Shelia hadn't been feeling well so they had waited to greet us at their home. Hugs all around. Hope shared that she had read the preliminary manuscript of my book and liked it.  She thinks it will be helpful to others. I was flying high.  This time without the assistance of Southwest. That was so nice of her to invest the time.  She is candid so I know she says what she means and doesn't just blow polite smoke. I was/still am touched by her kindness to take time out of her busy life to read my book.

Shelia read it and Tom heard excerpts. Obviously this topic isn't well suited for my son to read. I was flattered that Shelia read it. She even looked over the material for edits. Checking for errors, spelling, grammar etc. had been done earlier by others. Happily, she still finished my book and liked it. That reinforcement of encouragement means so much.

Saturday I went walking and exploring. When I called to be reminded of the name of the street my son lives on, my grandson got concerned that I might be lost. Off he went to my rescue.  He even left wearing his crocs instead of his sneakers. It made me feel special that he dropped everything at the thought I might need help. He rode his bike to where I was and showed me a great way to return to their house. My heart was touched.

We loaded up into 2 vehicles and headed to the desert for lunch at the Cattleman's Steakhouse.   The restaurant has won the award for "manliest restaurant."  They were filming a show about the restaurant while we were there.  It will be on TV in December.  I am not a big red meat eater however the steaks here are amazing and delicious. It is expensive and it was generous of my son Tom to pick up the tab for all of us. The waitress kept reminding us that there was dessert.  At one point Noah asked her "do you offer any desserts?" The waitress realized she had pointed out desserts every time she had come to the table and got tickled by his question.  She started to laugh out loud.  It was fun. She was still laughing when she left the table. No one ended up with room for dessert but we will always think about dessert when we remember our visit that day.

After consuming so much food, I was thrilled when I got the chance to go with my daughter-in-law Shelia to her gym, Planet Fitness.  It is a great gym. Lots of user-friendly equipment. It would be great if there was one near my home. Closest unfortunately are in Tampa and Palm Harbor. I did some great stretching that helped my back and the circuit training was sweat inducing.

That night we went to the UTEP Oklahoma football game.  Noah painted his face.

We got to the game early but even so we couldn't find a parking place and Hope was getting a little queasy as we drove around and around. Shelia dropped us off and she and Hope went home for the first half and returned after halftime finding a great parking place. During the first 3 quarters I thought we were going to win. I was looking for an upset. Unfortunately, UTEP missed 3 field goals and fell apart in the 4th quarter.
Still it was so much fun. A great way to spend a blue moon night.


Sunday we went to church with my son and his family.  The music was awesome. I love uplifting music. The speaker substituting for their Pastor was fantastic. His message spoke directly to my mind and heart.

We went to Chipolte after church.  It is a fun restaurant where you create your own dishes. Delicious.

That afternoon I received some heart sent words of wisdom from Shelia. Later I went for a walk.  We enjoyed their pool and I lost a game of PIG with Noah.  We started playing Horse but it was taking so long we opted for pig. Noah slaughtered me with his long basketball shots. Dinner was a cook-out. My hot dog was burnt to perfection.

Every household watches different television shows. One of the fun elements of my visit was catching up with some of the shows they watch.  Hope was patient in explaining what was happening on Big Brother. It was fun to watch TV with everyone all sitting in the same room. I felt bad for my son because his back was hurting. He had to put electrodes on spots on his back to help relieve the pain. He and Noah had been rear ended in an accident and his back problems were a result.  Just looking around the room while everyone was together was one of my favorite moments.

Monday we had to fly home. It was tough to say goodbye.  We shared some laughs at breakfast as they recounted a fun experience they had during their visit to Vegas. Tom was called on stage and with thumbs up made the audience laugh so hard they nearly peed their pants.  You will have to get the details from them (smile).

The flights were on-time and turbulent free. Despite a long layover in Houston it couldn't have been better.

I am looking forward to the next time we get together.  Maybe it will include Jim, Carol, Jake and Jonah too.  Visits with each family is fantastic!  I can only imagine if we were all together it would be spectacular!!  I am definitely the luckiest - most blessed woman ever.