The Sales Get Me

 

Sometimes I get a bit overzealous at the grocery store. 

Sometimes I get excited about sales and buy things we really don’t need 

Because I am saving money. 

Sometimes the freezer gets too full. 

Sometimes the fridge bursts at the seams. 

Sometimes the pantry gets so disorganized that we don’t even know what’s in it. 

And then, sometimes, when we clean it out, 

I find myself praying for forgiveness for wasting so much food, 

When I know that food insecurity is so very real. 

 

…..

 

A couple of weeks ago, 

I was talking with Joe the Counselor about how busy my next couple of weeks would be. 

I was feeling overwhelmed and afraid that I would get sick, 

Which I did, 

When he said, 

“You don’t have to do the whole two weeks at once. 

It really is one day, one moment, at a time.”

 

…..

 

A few months ago,

One of my friends wrote in a group text and asked us to help settle a debate:

Do most people go to the grocery store every day or once a week? 

Another of my friends answered, 

Once a month. 

I usually go once a week, 

But, like I said, sometimes the sales get me and I will buy stuff not on the needs list but 

Because mom or dad like it, 

Or because we’ll eventually use it. 

And hence,

The stockpile of stuff. 

 

….

 

It’s tough. 

Finding a balance between living for today and being prepared for the future. 

Going to the grocery store every day doesn’t seem feasible to me, 

Then again, buying in excess doesn’t seem like a good use of money. 

Facing two weeks all at once isn’t possible,

But facing each moment as it comes doesn’t seem plausible either. 

What if I’m not prepared?

And yet. 

Jesus calls us to 

Not worry about tomorrow, 

For each day has enough trouble of its own. 

 

…

 

It’s a practice: 

Living in the moment 

While not dwelling on the past 

Or fretting about the future. 

 

It’s a practice: 

Sticking to a grocery list and 

Not getting sucked into sales.

 

It’s a practice:

This life. 

 

And practice means moving from failing to succeeding to failing again 

As we hone and improve our skills. 

 

Practice means accepting the reality that

We will never be perfect 

But always in process. 

 

…..

 

I don’t know what the future holds. 

There is much mixed emotion and a lot of uncertainty. 

Grocery prices may go down.

Grocery prices may soar and I may not be able to buy extra groceries. 

I may not be able to buy groceries at all. 

But I can’t plan for any of that. 

 

All I know is that 

I must practice living for now, 

And now is a moment for

Love and blessing and care, 

Even if it means going to the grocery store

And shopping the sales. 

 

Amen. 

 

 

Down Deep

 

I’ve been a member of Massage Envy for over a decade now.

I joined when I lived in SC and made more money than I currently make.

I haven’t let the membership lapse because I always have massages lying in wait,

And I don’t want to waste the money I’ve already spent…

And so I keep the membership going, thinking that I’ll catch up on massages one day,

Only to watch more and more massages accrue and more and more money seemingly go down the drain :-\.

 

That being said,

I’m in a catch-up cycle right now.

At the beginning of the year, I made it my goal to use my massages,

And so I booked a massage every Friday afternoon for five weeks.

Here’s the deal, though:

There was only one massage therapist available at the time I could go,

And he wasn’t very good.

I went because I needed to use up my massages.

I didn’t go because I was receiving the therapeutic benefits of massage.

 

That all changed last Friday.

On a whim, after not going in for a few weeks,

I decided to see if an appointment was available for that day.

There was.

And it was with a different therapist.

So I booked it.

I figured that he couldn’t be much worse than the therapist I’d been seeing.

 

Come to find out,

The new guy was actually an old guy I’d seen years ago.

He had left my location, gone to another, and then landed at the Umstead.

He didn’t like the Umstead, however, because he had to keep the massages relaxing,

And he likes to do more therapeutic work.

 

And boy does he.

As soon as he started my massage,

I knew that it was going to be different than the massages I’d lain through at the beginning of the year.

My new therapist, Anthony, went down deep into my muscles,

All the while stretching them as he went.

There were moments when the work he did hurt,

But it was a good hurt,

And when I left, I felt different.

The tension in my lower back and glutes was gone

And I was pain-free for the first time in a long time.

 

I think that’s how it is with life sometimes, too.

I think sometimes we have to go down deep,

Stretch ourselves, and make ourselves

Face the things that we don’t usually face

In order for the pain to dissipate.

That’s the beauty of counseling.

It’s also the beauty of prayer.

 

Dear God: You are everywhere if we but have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Thank you for making your presence known on a Friday afternoon in an appointment that I expected little from but that I wanted to keep to be a good steward of the resources you have given. Help all of us to be good stewards of our resources and to catch glimpses of you in wherever we end up. Thank you that, through pain, there is often progress, and that you provide us with people to help in the processes that are beyond our expertise. Help us to seek out others who will strengthen us and make us better for your service. It’s in your loving and life-giving name that I pray, Amen.

 

By the way, I’ve scheduled more massages with Anthony.

How could I not?!