restrooms and men

Why can't every Walmart have a standard restroom policy....Women on the right and Men on the left? I think they secretly planned to swap them around from county to county to confuse people. I bet their security gets a daily laugh out of watching what goes on in front of the restrooms. Sick people.

The other day I was in the Wally restroom...(ok, my former post also surrounded a restroom...I am seeing a weird connection between me and restrooms)...anyway, I come out of the stall and a man is standing there looking at me like I am an alien who is going to abduct him for his organs. I have a moment in my mind scanning prior images while talking to myself, "Did I happen to look at the sign? Did it say Women? Oh, God, please let me be in the Women's restroom?" The man apologizes to me, turns around and scurries out of the restroom. Well, that settles that. Crazy man, geesh, can't he read the sign outside the door?

Breathing a sigh of relief, I go to the sink to wash my hands (which should have given me a clue that I was in the right place because no man was washing his hands...but that is another blog, another day). While looking in the mirror and putting on lip gloss, in walks ANOTHER man. You have got to be kidding me! At this point, I am clearly thinking it is ME in the wrong place (but where are those creepy looking urinals?). We both freeze and look at one another. He breaks out in a sweat and nearly faints, I assure him it's ok and apologize that I must have come into the wrong restroom since he is the second man I have seen. He leaves, saying he will just wait. Dang, fella, I don't have cooties. I'm the one who should be embarrassed.

I leave the restroom and on the way out, I notice the sign. Women's. Wellll....I was in the right place after all! Which should have been my second clue that I was in the right place and the men were not. Women always know where they are going. Women don't need to stop and ask for directions along the way.

a rare jewel

One particular Sunday after church, I encountered a rare and precious jewel.

After services I wanted to freshen up a bit before going out to lunch. As I walked down the hallway to the restroom, I noticed an elderly lady struggling to get the exit door open. I am pretty sure the door was heavier than this petite lady. Assuming she must have forgotten something, I quickly offered my hand to help her across the threshold. She piped out, in what was a booming voice to her, but barely above a whisper to me, "I thought you wanted to go out, so I was opening the door for you!"

I told her that was very sweet of her to open the door for me, but I was actually going into the restroom and not outside. Still assuming that she must be coming back into the church, I told her I would love to hold open that heavy door for her so she could come back inside. She said, "No, no, no...I don't need to go inside. I just wanted to hold the door open for you." Hiding a little chuckle, trying to figure out why this tiny, fragile lady would want to hold the door open for me when I am clearly much more able than she, I smiled sweetly and thanked her.

Finishing up in the restroom and coming out, I was so surprised to see that same little lady trying to pull open that heavy door for me once again. What in the world? After the door was open, I thanked her and told her that I could get the door, not to let me be a bother. With a little spunk in her eye and an equal amount of spunk in her voice, she kindly said, "Honey, are you trying to steal my job?" Taken aback, I grinned and couldn't help but let out a little laugh at her feisty spirit. She went on to say, "I can't do a lot of things for the Lord any more but I can still open this door for people and send them off with a cheery good-bye!"

I did everything I could to hold back from grabbing that sweetheart of a gal and hugging the stuffins out of her. But, she was just too stinkin' cute. I told her I wanted to take her picture to remind me that there is no age limit when it comes to serving the Lord. She said she would love to take a picture as long as I would pray for her every time I looked at it. That was an easy agreement.

That particular Sunday, I truly did meet a rare jewel. I met Mrs. Jewel Sims. Wasn't she appropriately named? Go ahead, smile...I know you want to...

disappointment

For years I have wanted one of those strawberry pots. I had the fantasy that I could go out and pick a fresh strawberry right on the spot. Add a couple of strawberries to my salad or pancakes or toast and .... mmmmmmm. I decided the time had come to grow my own. I went to the garden center and strutted home with a new hobby.

I wanted to do my very best. I treated that plant like a baby. Each day I would make sure it had the perfect amount of water and picked away any leaf that remotely looked like it had a dead spot on it. Success! Several buds and little berries were in the making. One in particular was proved to be my star strawberry. He raced out to be the biggest and the best. A real show-off. It worked for me. I was excited! Only star treatment for this one. Daily, I tenderly picked it up and made sure it was not touching the soil or resting on any leaf. I even had encouraging pep talks with it. We were in it to win it. (Only I had plans of sinking my teeth into it. But, shhhh.)

That berry slowly turned the brightest red. Perfection was almost at hand. I tried my best to be patient and wait until the perfect timing to eat it. One evening I decided that tomorrow would be the day. Finally!

The next morning I quickly got my workout clothes on and headed out the door for a morning run, fully prepared and excited to pick that strawberry on my way. I opened the door, went to my plant, bent down and discovered this....

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Some critter had also eyed my strawberry. And ate it! I was so disappointed (I talked to that thing for cryin' out loud!). I pouted for the rest of the day. I whined to anyone who would listen to my story. I couldn't even look at strawberries in the grocery store. Disappointment.

While I would never, ever, compare a strawberry to the hard-core disappointments that people experience daily, it did make me think. We all know the tragedy of disappointment. Some also rise up to be bigger than all the rest. People wake up each day and discover a piece of their happiness stolen by disappointment. A phone call telling us that a parent passed away, the doctor's appointment turning into news of cancer, a dad receiving a pink slip, the final foreclosure notice in the mail. People sometimes disappoint us. Finding out the person you were living with is not really the person you knew, your children getting into terrible trouble, people using your emotions for their benefit, people pretending to care about you for their gratification. The list is endless. Disappointment.

What do we do with it? We can be angry and bitter. Blame everyone around us for our disappointment.Whine to anyone who will listen. Let it consume us. That is certainly an option. We could also chose to ignore and avoid the disappointment. Pretend it didn't happen. Out of sight out of mind. Deal with it later. That would be another option.

The option I have found that works best is to look it in the face. Acknowledge it. Then turn to the Lord. Pray about it and tell Him about your disappointment. He wants to listen. He wants to help you know what to do. He is sovereign and His hand is always operating in and through the disappointment. We have to trust Him. With a yielded heart your relationship with Him will grow deeper. He will use this disappointment to produce a more mature life of Christ in us. After all, our heart's desire should be genuine Christlikeness. Use this disappointment to your advantage. Psalm 119:71 "My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees."

Now, back to my silly strawberry. I am still working at it. In the meantime, Kroger has them on sale for $1.88.

alone to think

I have come to love my mornings. There's a place I go where the world slips away. I run at my own pace and think. No one to interrupt my thoughts...just me and this amazing scenery. One morning I snapped a few pictures along the way.

What about you? Where is your special place to get away? What place inspires you to think and sort through life?

Enjoy a peek of my quiet place.