So, about a year ago, I was going into the Dollar Store to pick up some greeting cards that have a basic idea that inspires me and that is rather blank, so I have room to do my own “enhancements”.
As soon as I walked into the door of the Dollar Store, I turned my glance to the Greeting card section. There was nobody there except for one man looking through cards.
He looked up and we shared a momentary look while I was still at the door. I’m not sure why, but I had the distinct impression from the way he looked at me, that his interest in me was more than just a passing glance.
I decided to stall a little bit and browse around the store until this man left. As I walked around, I was keeping my eyes on him and then realised he was also continuing to look at me.
But I didn’t have much time, so I figured I had better just go over and pick out the cards I came for.
Now, I’m a single woman, so whenever a man is watching me for longer than a minute or so, it usually means he’s going to try and talk to me and “make his move”. It’s not that this person was particular not nice looking or anything, but “romance” of any kind was NOT on my agenda for that day.
I started reading the various Greeting cards and noticed that he was gradually getting closer and closer to me. Until at last he stood right beside me. There was no way to avoid this situation, so I was putting up my “shield” and getting ready for my polite, “buzz off buddy” speech.
He suddenly turned to me and said, “Excuse me, Miss, but could you read this greeting card to me?”
He was very polite, sort of shy and spoke with just a hint of embarrassment. I thought to myself, “This is one of the weirdest pick up lines I’ve ever heard”.
He held out the card to me and asked again, “Do you mind? Could you be so kind as to read this card to me?”
He spoke with a bit of an accent but his English was very understandable, so I was a bit confused as to why I had to read it.
The confusion must have shown on my face because he explained,
“I can understand English fine, but I haven’t been able to conquer reading and writing it. In my language, we don’t even have the same alphabet as you do.”
This was something I had never thought of before. Many people may come to Canada being able to speak English (or French) but reading it and Grammar is a whole different thing. Exactly how would you pick a card out for someone if you couldn’t read it?
The card he handed me had a bouquet of lovely flowers on it, so I cleared my voice and began to read it to him.
“This bouquet is so you’ll always know,He got a big frown on his face, so I asked him what he needed the card for. He said, “My brother-in-law died and I don’t think this one is quite right.”
We all will miss you when you go
Grab the best, as you climb the corporate ladder
Someone else has your desk, but it’s your pay raise that matters.”
I chuckled and responded, “No! You definitely don’t want to send this one.”
I showed him where they kept all the “In Sympathy” cards and let him have a look around there.
As his eyes were scanning, suddenly a lady handed me a card and said, “While you’re reading out cards, maybe you wouldn’t mind reading this one for me. It’s for my grandson’s birthday. He was born in Canada.” She said with a hint of pride in her voice.
I read,
“This little bunny is jumping your way,I said, “That’s a good card for his Birthday”.
to wish you a
“ ‘Hoppy’ Birthday”
But she had a frown on her face too. She responded, “But he’s 18 years old. Do you think it’s okay for an 18 year old boy?”
So it was time to help that lady find a different, more appropriate birthday card. Right about that time, the first man had picked out a couple “Sympathy” cards for me to read out loud. I read them both and they were both nice.
He stood there thinking on which one would be better to give when another 3 cards were thrust at me from 3 different directions. I looked up and around to see that a crowd of 12-14 people had gathered. They all wanted me to read their cards for them because they all had trouble reading English and it’s very important not to give the wrong Greeting card!
The two ladies at the cashier looked up to see what the crowd was about, and I sort of shrugged my shoulders at them. What could I do?
So, I gave a Performance of Greeting Cards at the local Dollar Store. And I thought, “Hey. If I’m going to do this, I may as well take it seriously and do my best.”
It was met with both critical and audience enthusiasm. Laurence Oliver couldn’t have done better. Especially if his literary material included, bunnies, bouquets and birthdays.
After about 15 minutes, everyone had gotten their cards and the area thinned out. The only person still remaining was the man who had originally asked me for help.
He told me,
“ I waited for 10 minutes, watching people come in before I saw you and KNEW you would be the person to help me.”I was curious and asked him, “What exactly about me was it that made you think I would help you and not just tell you to ‘get lost’?”
He wasn’t much taller than me and he gave my face a good look over. He was scrutinizing me so closely that he made me feel sort of nervous.
Finally he declared, “Your forehead!”
“I beg your pardon?” I responded.
He said again, “It was your forehead. I’m not sure what there is about it, but when I saw you I couldn’t help but look at your forehead.”
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| Laura-Lee Being Silly (Using new face cream to stick foil to head with "Christian Seal" - see Revelation in Bible) |
So he thanked me and left and I finally bought my own cards.
Later that night, as I read my Bible, I came across:
“… Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”That is another example of the strange and wonderful turn my life has taken since Jesus took my Fear away.
( Revelation 7:3)
There was a time when anything as surreal as “Giving a Greeting Card Reading at the Dollar Store” would not have happened to me. Basically because I would have been too scared to let it happen. If this had happened back in my “Fear Days”, the moment I saw that man staring at me, I would have immediately left the store and skipped buying what I had come for.
How many things did I miss out on, simply because I let fear keep me from doing it? Jesus had that moment planned for me.
What are the chances that all those people who needed help to read their cards were there for THAT specific moment? It would take up some time, but not so much time that I couldn’t spare it.
That it would develop in me warm and sympathetic feelings for people in a situation I didn’t even know existed before that moment. To understand how scary it must be to live in a country where you can’t read or write the language but you’re trying to make a life for you and your family.
Jesus’ finger prints were all over that circumstance. And I’m so grateful I wasn’t too scared to be a part of it.
“;and who knows whether thou has come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”TO BE CONTINUED …
Esther 4:14b
