Once upon a time, I actually made a stranger cry

I barely got the words out of my mouth when the tears flooded her eyes, rolling down her cheeks from behind her sunglasses and dripping off her chin before she could catch them.

I felt like the worst person ever; I made a stranger cry, but it wasn’t about me. God was doing something incredible, and he had asked me to be a part of it.

Up one aisle and down the next. Milk, bread, eggs … I marked one thing at a time off of my LONG list of groceries. I hate grocery shopping. I’m pretty sure whoever invented grocery stores did so to torture people.

I would rather eat staples than go grocery shopping. OK, that may be a bit far, but you get the picture; I’m not a fan.

But, I suppose the other option is to grow my food. I’ll go ahead and keep torturing myself.

So, here we are, my daughter and I, shopping our little hearts out. Up and down the aisles, grabbing and throwing; we want out of there as quickly as possible.

I like when Annah tags along. One of us pushes the cart, and the other fills it. It goes by much quicker. However, I am eagerly awaiting the day she alone is our family’s grocery lady. (Don’t tell her)

We finally arrived at the finish line, I mean, checkout line. We loaded our items on the belt and waited for the cashier to tell me how many millions of dollars he needed to complete my purchase. And, then I saw her. Yes, her, the woman I would soon make cry.

She was bagging and loading her groceries with two toddlers in the cart’s front when she caught my eye. Her kids couldn’t have been over one and three.

I laughed a little under my breath as I thought back to my toddler days. I thought, poor momma, she’s probably exhausted. Then, I looked at my now teenage daughter, grateful she was standing at the foot of the cart about to bag and load groceries.

I hurried my attention back to the cashier, but as the woman was walking past me on her way out, we locked eyes. You know, one of those awkward eye locks.

I smiled, and she forced an exhausted smile on her face and walked on. She was moving on, but I felt the nudge. You know the one; the holy ghost nudge. Immediately God spoke to my spirit about this lady, and he nudged me to encourage her.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with those nudges. I love Jesus with my whole heart, but I’m a bit of an introvert. I usually end up awkward when talking to strangers, so I just assume let my extrovert husband do that. I began my list of reasons I couldn’t do it.

I’m checking out, I can’t just walk away.

I’m about to pay, I can’t take this food and run without paying.

The line is too long to do this again.

She’ll be gone by the time I get out of here.

Don’t judge me, you’ve been there too.

I finally decided that if she were still there when I finished paying, bagging and loading, I’d encourage her. Pathetic, I know. This is literally what my ministry is ALL about, but yet I still struggle.

Well, can you guess who was in the parking lot when I got outside? Yep, there she was, strapping her little ones in the car.

So, there I went.

Excuse me, ma’am. This may sound crazy, but I feel the need to tell you that you’re doing a great job.

And, the waterworks started.

I told her the Lord loves her; he sees her, and he thinks she’s doing great.

As the tears flowed down her face, she told me how she’d had a rough couple of weeks and needed to hear those words more than I know.

And, me being selfish almost missed it.

Friend, I’m not tooting my horn, obviously, you read my struggle.

But, I left there thinking about how THIS is chasing Jesus. It’s about denying yourself and chasing him through the grocery store.

It’s being available for the complete stranger and obeying the spirit when he nudges you. It’s often uncomfortable and scary, but it’s just as often a beautiful blessing.

Chasing Jesus happens in the everyday parts of our life.

It happens when we allow him access to EVERY part, even the dreaded grocery day parts. Don’t miss it out of fear or because you refuse him access to ALL of you.

If I had continued in my selfishness that day, not only would she have missed a blessing, so would I.

I made a stranger cry, but when I walked away, I too had tears. God used me in her moment of doubt and insecurity to encourage her and point her back to Jesus, and it humbled me.

Don’t miss the moment. Chase Jesus through your home, at your job, in the grocery store, in your school, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing — Chase Jesus.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)

Cassie Downs, formerly of the Ellsinore area, is a speaker and the author of Chasing Jesus. Connect with her online at cassiedowns.com. Her book is available online where most books are sold.