I had been reaching my hand towards the back of the shelf that held all the puddings of the world, trying to find a second small box of vanilla pudding. My hand hit the back of the shelf, which was about an arm's-length deep, and I pulled it out, looking back to see an older lady smiling. I realized she was talking to me and so I responded.
"Pistachio pudding? Oh no, just another box of vanilla..." I paused a second, and turned to her again. "I didn't know that there was pistachio pudding."
The lady nodded with a smile and started looking at another section of the pudding. I continued my search for vanilla--do you know how messy these pudding shelves get? They are so unorganized, and often times I find myself having the urge to sit there and organize it. As I shuffled boxes around (that's probably how they get so unorganized), I found myself keeping an eye out for a box of pistachio. I glanced at the labels on the shelf and, sure enough, there was a little sticker that said "pistachio" on it. Above the sticker was nothing but a jumbled mess of pudding boxes... mostly chocolate and cheesecake flavored. A little frustrated, I once again reached my arm in to the dark unkowns of shopping market shelves, searching for that little box of pistachio... oh, and my box of vanilla.
God calls us to love. Simple as that--love. Love your Lord, love your family, love your friends, love the guy who cut you off on the freeway, love the lady looking for pistachio pudding, and so on. Obviously from looking at this list we see that some are easier to love than others. However, love comes in many different forms, and I am not saying we should follow the guy who cut you off back to his house and proceed to give him a hug when he gets out of his car. Love can be meere forgiveness when dealing with loving the hard-to-love.
Love is kind...
Finding ways to love people around you, both friend and foreign, doesn't have to be some extravegant thing. It can be finding someone their box of pistachio pudding. Of course not literally (in most cases), but hear me out. I had no idea who this lady was, but I knew that I could use the opportunity to show love by helping find the pistachio pudding, by showing kindness to this lady. Kind of weird, but true. You can just as easily help others find their "pistachio pudding" by smiling when passing by someone you don't know, by giving a hug, by simply listening and showing interest...
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7
Get the point?
Now, I'd like to say that I found that sweet old lady's pistachio pudding, but unfortunately I didn't. Instead I found a few thoughts on love that God has been wanting me to see for a while.
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