Laced With Grace

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

Picture Of My Beautiful Mother

I awoke late Thursday morning with plans to write my devotion for today’s Laced With Grace Blog along with some much needed household chores. Instead, the dishes from Wednesday night are still in the sink, the bills I was going to pay are not paid, and my chores are still not done. Guess what? I really don’t care! Does that sound crass?

Yes, Thursday I had plans but the Lord had other plans. Around noon I received a phone call from my mother. As I answered the phone, my mom replied, “Michele, what are you doing? (now without a break waiting for my response she continued), I was out this morning for my foot doctor appointment and the sun was shining and as I came home I thought to myself, ‘Oh, I have bookshelves that need dusting, but they will be there tomorrow but at 87 years old I might not, so I will call Michele and we can take a ride and eat dinner at Cracker Barrel’. So Michele, what do you think, can you be ready in 30 minutes and I will pick you up?”

I thought to myself, ‘Oh she is so good! How can I say no to her after that?’ So I told her to give me an hour because I’m not dressed yet. We had such a lovely drive and afternoon together. Mom shared how she and Chris (my step-father) used to take a drive in the country and then eat out together. When my husband called me after school to tell me that he is coming home, mom interrupted and said, “Tell Jim to meet us at Cracker Barrel and I will treat you two to dinner.” Oh mother now I know why you choose the Cracker Barrel near Jim’s school!

I could have stayed on course with my plans for the day and told my mother another time would be best; but I chose to allow the Lord to determine my steps (Proverbs 16:9); I chose to honor my mother today (Ephesians 6:1-3) and store up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21); I chose something better (Luke 10:41-42). I chose to make an old woman happy and lay up memories that will last a lifetime.

This is not the devotion I had planned to write today, but it is what the Lord had planned!

This is a story about my mother.

My mom lives in a smallish size town, in western Colorado. Grand Junction is a quaint place, hailed as the gateway to the Great Rocky Mountains. She has lived alone from more than 25 years and now resides in an adorable townhome she purchased about three or four years back which is located a half a block away from my sister.

Last week on Valentine’s Day she decided to pick up a last minute gift for a friend, a box of candy from the town’s famous candy maker, Enstroms, who is famous for their toffee and a few other delectable’s.

Mom went into the store and ambled around taking in the crowded counters decorated with hearts and every manner of sweet treats. She brushed by the patrons who were crowding close to the clerks as they worked quickly to fills orders.

Approaching a counter to purchase her gift, she lined up behind two teenage boys. My mom guessed the taller one to be about 19 years old and the shorter one around, 17. The boys were talking with the clerk when all of sudden, the clerk looked at my mom and stepped from behind the counter. My mom watched a tad bit confused but then the clerk said to her as she motioned with her hand in the boys general direction, “Look at what these boys are buying for their mother for Valentine’s Day.”

The boys stepped back a little from the counter, with a sheepish smile on their rugged face, and low and behold my mom spied the most beautifully displayed box of chocolate covered strawberries.

“Lynn, these strawberries were the size of baseballs and they were beautiful. I looked at the box of chocolate berries then up at the boys faces and I stared at these two teenagers. I couldn’t believe these kids were buying such an expensive and exquisite gift for their mother. It was wonderful,” mother told me on the phone later.

My mom said she smiled at the boys and mumbled something to the affect, “You are some very special boys and your mom is a very lucky mom.” Then my mom turned to the taller boy who was smiling from ear-to-ear, “Will you give me a hug?” she asked.

He immediately bent down to my mom’s small stature and hugged her. My mom whispered in his ear, “Thank you. I lost my son two years ago and your hug is a special kindness.” He squeezed her tighter.

My mom made her purchase, said goodbye to the boys and the store clerk and headed on her way. In the parking lot she heard, “Ma’am, Ma’am, wait just a minute.”

The younger boy was running after her. Breathless he said, “Ma’am, we want you to have these.” He held out the box of beautifully decorated chocolate covered strawberries he and his brother had purchased for their mother.

“Oh, no son. I can’t take these. They are for your mother.”

“Ma’ma, our Mom will get her own box.”

Hugs again.

My mother said to me over the phone later, “Lynn is was if God knew I needed that so badly and He blessed me with two strangers, –teenage boys. I don’t know their names and I will likely never see them again but I will never forget their kindness to an old woman they didn’t know.”

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Sometimes I think teenagers get such a bum rap. But, I hope this story inspires you to see some kid today with eyes of hope. There are some amazing kids in our world doing amazing things.

Also, this story has inspired me to think about the elderly and people who are alone in our world. God loves them and grieves over their loneliness. So today, reach out to your grandma or grandpa. Send them a card or call. If you don’t have grandparents, then an elderly parent or an elderly neighbor. I live right next door to a woman who lives alone, Mary. Today, I am baking a coffee cake and cutting a flower from my garden and taking it to her just because that is what Jesus would do.

Tell me about what the Lord is asking you to do to make someone feel loved by Him. Be blessed, Lynn

PS. After I hung up the phone with my mother. I walked into the family room where my daughter was on the couch. I repeated the story to her about the boys, grandma and the chocolate. My daughter smiled, just delighted with the story and said, “Mom, do you think we can call grandma and see if she can find these boys? Do you think one of them would marry me?” *grin*

All is right with the world!

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I don’t know if Coca-Cola still uses this as their slogan or not, but when I was growing up I remember their advertisement always said, “Coca-Cola – the REAL thing!” Have you ever considered what the “real” thing is?

 Today our society is saturated with “artificial” things. We have silk flowers instead of fresh. We have artificial sugar instead of pure from the cane. We have false eyelashes instead of the God-given kind. Fake, artificial and false. No wonder we can’t recognize the real thing when we see it!

 One of the reasons that Coca-Cola for years was the #1 beverage was because their slogan was not just words, but it was proven fact. Coca-Cola conducted many beverage tasting tests, where they would taste test their drink against a competitors beverage. With unmarked cups, people would be asked to drink from one cup and then another and try to decide which one was the REAL Coca-Cola. It was really easy to select the real thing, if you were familiar with what the real drink tasted like. When matched next to a generic brand of Cola, Coca-Cola would win everytime I tried this taste testing experiment.

We are living in a society now that it is very difficult to recognize the REAL thing anymore. I wonder what happened to the “Coca-Cola” Christians? You know … the ones that walked the walk and talked the talk. Over the past few years, I have noticed that the label “Christian” has become just that … a label! When I look around my world, I see alot of people who consider themselves a Christian but yet they do not live like a follower of Christ. They have taken on the name, but they haven’t changed their game.

It isn’t enough to just call ourselves a Christian, our walk and our talk must reflect that Jesus Christ resides within our being. I wonder how we would measure up if God decided to do a taste test with our spiritual walk with Him? If He lined us up against a non-believer, with all of the labels removed … would there be a difference found? Would we be found to be the REAL thing or just someone going thru the motions?

Dear Lord … Let it be real! Help me to be ALL that I can be in You. May my words, my actions, my thoughts and my passion lead others straight to You! Empower me today to shake my world for You by showing them that following You is definetly the REAL thing! – AMEN.

You can visit my blog daily for devo’s at http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/