The Illusive Hundred Dollar Bill

The Illusive Hundred Dollar Bill

Today was one of those days that I worked on the front of the grocery store. Greet the customers, bag the groceries and gather the carts filled my day. 

For years, working for a grocery store, I have wondered about something. Their has been times when I had found coins or even a dollar or two here and there in the parking lot. One time I found a twenty! When the lottery scratch off cards began to be sold, I started looking for discarded ones that were winners. Some people will stand in line to get one and not read it well enough to know that they won anything. Now that I am back at it, once again I wonder how likely it is that I could actually find a hundred dollar bill. This store is near a bank. When the wind is just right something could happen by. Chances are that if someone’s hundred dollar bill blew my way I would give it back to the one who dropped it. On the other hand, if no one came looking we could keep it. One day, long ago, a lady tipped me a ten dollar bill. Her husband got angry with her over it. It was a mistake. She came back to trade me a dollar for that ten. Easy come, easy go. Later she was back a third time, “My husband said that if I gave it to you that it belonged to you and that I shouldn’t ask for it back.” I got my ten back. Here is another thought.  What if a drunken so-in-so tipped me a hundred and staggered off not realizing it? 

Believe you me, a hundred dollar bill would be a great help to the budget. Everyone is needing more money. For us the budget is tighter than Dick’s hatband every month. I have no idea how tight it was for Dick but I am thankful for the overtime pay that I got this week! It helped big time. Overtime work is a killer but I pray for more. We have only a few months until things are no longer this way.  What is it, four more payments? 

Spiritual Breathing in the Parking Lot

It was another hot Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of Terry’s Supermarket. Cars were going this way and that. I just want to get these grocery carts up to the store while I still have the strength. I don’t know which way these people will decide to go. I have found out the very most favored space to park in all of that parking lot is the one that I am dragging my butt across at the time.

I miss attending church and Sunday School but I am thankful for this job too. At lunch my sweet texted me. She told me a little about what the preacher was preaching about. Wouldn’t you know that it would be another sermon that I would have dearly love to hear! Oh well, I can catch the replay on the church web site later. 

My wife told me at lunch that Pastor said something along the lines of, “Grace is not a free pass .. ‘to sin’ or was it ‘to live in sin?’” Either way this is a subject that I have studied out quite a bit.

Campus Crusade had a little blue book that I thought was the key to “spiritual happiness.” That book messed me up big time. They taught what they called “spiritual breathing.” What that is, is this. When you sin you “exhale" out your confession of that sin and “inhale” God’s forgiveness for that sin. The definition of sin that they go with is that sin is active rebellion or passive indifference to the law of God. That did me in right there. Honest to truly I couldn’t keep up with it all. To top it off, there is James 2:10. This warns that any and every sin brings the condemnation of breaking every law in the Bible. Can you drive without passing the speed limit by even 1 MPH? If not, then you are guilty of every sin in the Book because of driving one mile an hour over the speed limit. Time to repent of every sin listed in the Bible each time I mess that one up. That makes me light headed. Now that I’m light headed from spiritual breathing, it’s best to re-confess everything once again and hope I don’t miss one. 

Another preacher warned us, “Never expect God to answer your prayer if there is sin in your life!” Well, my boat set sail from Stinky Bay and now sinking fast in the middle of Lake Deep Pooky. I was failing big time!

There is more but I will spare you of that.

I found out that I wasn’t alone in all of this. There is a book that I actually read by Bob George. This book set me free!!! The name of the book is, “Classic Christianity.” Bob talked about the little blue book too and said that he was hyper ventilating from “spiritual breathing” himself.

There is a new book! It wasn’t written by Bob but it was written by someone else from Bob’s radio show. It is called Basic Gospel. When I get the money I will get that book. Right now we just pray for God’s grace that we can buy groceries. 

If you read these books, you will be helped too.

The main thing I got out of Bob’s book was that as Christians we are forever forgiven. We should walk in this forgiveness. They show that we are dead before we receive Christ. We are made alive when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. When you tell God that you believe this you are then “saved.”

Once you are made alive spiritually you will never be dead spiritually ever again.

Another thing Bob covered is walking aware of your righteousness that was given to you by God Himself. We can’t earn it but we can receive it and say, “Thank you.” It is humbling to realize that it was all of God and nothing of me. He did everything necessary for our salvation and there is nothing we can add to it. 

It is better to be righteousness conscious than sin conscious. When you are conscious of righteousness you loose interest in sin. Sure we all sin but it is not a part of our new nature. If we are sin conscious all we see is where we mess up. We are defeated if we worry about sin all of the time.

My favorite example story that illustrates this is about when I was a little boy. Mother would send me to Daddy with his cup of coffee. “Sin conscious” is me looking with fear at the hot cup and worrying that I would drop it or spill Daddy’s coffee. “Righteousness conscious” is me looking at Daddy as I carry his coffee to him. I may slosh a little of it out but before I was getting it all over. 

Another example that I had heard is this. Before you are saved, you are a worm. (caterpillar) You are only interested in wormy things and anything related to being a dirty little worm. When you are born again it’s like coming out of the cocoon as a new creature. (butterfly) You are no longer interested in wormy things. Now your focus is on things pertaining to being a butterfly. You may get your wings dirty now and again but that is not part of your new nature. 

You can make sure that you are born again. If you have any questions, I will help all I can.

Right now I have to get more carts up to the store. I am looking forward to cooler weather. 

The trash cans outside are getting full. I  wonder if I can change the out real quick…

Have a great day! 

Come again soon! 

Rapture in the Dairy Department

I am working hard at Terry’s Supermarket. Some like to sit at a desk and work in an office. That is not for me. I much rather be physically active. I walk almost 30 miles a week at Terry’s. With all of the weight that I have lost the doc should get me off of a lot of meds. All of my britches are way too big for me now. Soon I will have to pray in a new wardrobe. 

What I like best at Terry’s is working in the perishable department with the milk, eggs, yogurt and juice… I can keep things filled and fresh.  All by myself, I can think about things. Hardly anyone talks to me as I work so I am free to reminisce and think about all kinds of stuff.

The other day I was thinking back remembering hearing preachers preaching about the rapture and saying, “What will the Lord catch you doing when the rapture happens?” Well, that is a good point. Some preachers are very good at getting everyone to feel guilty and down right awful. They would use the rapture to frighten us kids into obeying the preacher. Many in the congregation would walk the aisle to get forgiven again and they would promise to do better. The guys better have their hair cut and the young ladies had better not be waring pants. Don’t let God catch you in a theater! Looking back on it now it seems so goofy. I hate legalism. Legalism promotes fear and extinguishes faith. 

Not to be taken lightly. The rapture will indeed happen and it my be very soon. How scary it will be for those left behind to face the tribulation period. The rapture is when all of the Christians are removed from the planet and things go very bad for everyone who is left behind. Don’t be left! If you want more information about this, just ask me. I am no expert but I will help you all I can.

What will the Lord catch you doing when He comes? As for me, I will probably be checking the dates on the yogurt. 

Eyes Crossed in the Lotus Position

Eyes Crossed in the Lotus Position

Let me tell you about Mother’s Day.

Clean uniform and looking sharp I headed to work at Terry’s Supermarket. It was Mother’s Day. The weather was a bit rainy but not bad. 

Trudging through the store, greeting the customers as I went. Was I the only one with a , “Happy Mother’s Day” for all of the mothers that came through? All I knew is that there was plenty of them. Mothers, grand mothers and many many others came to Terry’s that day. I rather be busy than bored. This was a fun day.

Being a rainy day it was important to keep the carts dry. Manager told me to be sure that every cart I bring up to the store out of the rain was to be put under the awning so that they don’t get wet. It didn’t have to make sense. I did like he said. I went uphill to get the wet carts and put them in a dry place.

This is an old building and it was not free of the problems that come with that. This store building was a Kroger back in the 70’s. On my way back to the door I saw people standing dazed and confused at the doors. They were not opening. It happens. A much taller man on the inside was laughing at me as I did my best Hulk imitation while pushing the doors open. “That was so funny! You made my day!!” I love to make people laugh.

Crowds came in. Crowds went out. “Happy Mother’s Day!” Carts added up on the lot and disappeared as quickly as I could bring them up to the store. I was loving every crazy minute of it.

Spying out the check stand for the largest order, I staggered in that direction. “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau was blaring over the noise of everyone on the front. I was ready to lean on something. Memory trip! When that song came out I got that record! I was grooving ands singing along, “WE BE JAMMERS! WE BE JAMMERS!!!!” I tried to sound as reggae as I could. I did ok for a white boy. Right in the middle of having a good time I was asked by someone whiter than me, “What are they saying?” With a puzzled expression I responded, “You’re kidding right? ‘We be jammers.’” and then, “What does that mean?” Roughly interpreted, “We are people who play music well.”

Zoning out, eyes crossed in the lotus position a thought comes to mind. They say that when this happens that it is indeed a form of meditation…. Buggies! Time to go gather carts again.

Hurrying through the parking lot, I was almost hit by a dude driving too fast in his white truck. He was too preoccupied with a finger up his nose to the second knuckle. 

Jamming several carts together I hear a dog barking at me. It was a Pomeranian! Imagine this dog came all of the way from Pomerania just to bark at me. I chuckled at that silly joke. If I think that was funny I must be some kind of tired.

http://pawpawtd.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-splash-from-past.html

To Kill a Paw Paw

At fifty seven, I am finding out faster than ever that I am not Superman. I cannot work as hard as  I did when I was younger. With that, I cannot work slack handed neither. 

When it comes to work there is a verse in the Bible that comes to mind, First Timothy 5:8, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” That sums up the importance of providing for the family. John Wayne said, “A man's got to do what a man's got to do.”

We went through a rough patch where we had to rely on the help of others. All through this time we prayed that I would be able to get a job. Our MLM was a washout but it was a good try. Long story short I got a job at Albertson’s! You can read about it HERE. I was scheduled at Albertson’s to change shelf tags every other week. My hours there were a feast or famine kind of thing. I would get a killer schedule, including an overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday or so few I would wonder if it was worth the gas to show up. My schedule was seldom ready at the appointed time. After seeing just what all I needed to bring in, I went to another store in search for more hours. I quit the first job for Terry’s Supermarket. I was working like crazy at Terry’s and loving it.

When my first boss found out what was going on he called me back to work! That gave me two jobs. Yes, this Paw Paw was working two jobs. One job was with Albertson’s and the other at Terry’s Supermarket. I hoped that I could do this and that I don’t end up having to choose one job over the other. I needed to work 30-40 hours a week in order to afford the things we need. I knew good and well that 20 hours was all I could get from a part time job. With two, I can get the hours that I need.  My second boss, at Terry’s, was willing to work with my schedule from Albertson’s. There are not many bosses willing to do that! This tells me that I am greatly valued. I knew then and there that Terry’s would be my choice over Albertson’s on the day I have to choose which job to keep. 

One week, it was like this. When I got both schedules it looked challenging but doable. I came in Tuesday morning expecting to bag groceries and haul in carts. When the Albertson’s schedule was changed to include that overnight shift it became impossible. Nevertheless I kept going. Seven hours at Albertson’s, four hours at Terry’s and back for eleven to whenever the job was done Wednesday. I called in sick to Terry’s for Wednesday night. I was far more than a little bit tired. In order for me to justify to myself to call in sick I would have to feel like I was never death. This qualified. I am thankful that I lived through it and can tell the story. 

This story has a part two.

http://pawpawtd.blogspot.com/2016/02/iron-man.html

Be Nice Paw Paw!

Be Nice Paw Paw!

One of my favorite sayings is this. “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” 

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is:  Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” 

However there is an extent to which I have a harder time about being “kind.”

Maybe you can identify.

The other night a cashier, at work, got her feelings hurt because some jack-donkey said something ugly to her. I founder her soon after this. She was crying on one of the aisles. I wanted to ask, “Need a hug there cupcake?” That was when I had to remind myself, “Be nice Paw Paw!” and just asked her the question that the manager wanted me to ask and get back to work. 

Face it! There are those who will say things that are hurtful. It is up to us to decide if we want to allow this to hurt us or not. I can tell you right now, as a short man, I have been told plenty. Some people were being ugly.  Others were just “teasing” me. I have to shake my head the ones who were just plain stupid. I was in line, not long ago, in a gas station minnie store, standing behind just such a one. This dude had a moral obligation to let me know that I was short. Did he think that I didn’t know that? He turned around and said, grinning ear to ear, “They almost made you a midget!” I just looked down, shook my head and laughed to myself. If I got as upset as she did every time someone thought that I needed to be told that I am short I would be in the nuthouse today.

You have to know when to be tenderhearted and when to be tough-skinned. 

A Study in Orange

A Study in Orange

Another fine day at Terry’s Supermarket. The sun was shining and music was festive. There was plenty to do. Red grocery carts were calling my name from one end of the parking lot to the other. “OK Paw-Paw!” I said to myself, ”Best get those things brought up to the store. Remember to only take a few at a time.” What should I do? Should I take all that I can possibly push up or take several trips with a more manageable number of carts? It’s dangerous to take more than I can handle easily.  

Something new was afoot today. There were several men armed with paint, rollers and very long extendable handles. Buggies were turned on end as barriers to protect the men who were painting the lampposts. The paint was a cheery shade of orange. There was a long extension cord stretched from inside the store to a lifting cage. I was glad that I didn’t have to go way up there! From time to time I stop to see how far they were getting along. It was looking good to me.

Later, I had to go to the back of the store for something when I saw a young mother struggling. She was trying to get her little daughter to sit still in the cart. “Look! That man will get angry with you if you don’t sit in the seat right!” She pointed at me and whispered, “Pretend to be angry with her.” What? “I can’t do that to the sweet little precious sweetie!” I gasped. Instead I tried to make her laugh. The little one didn’t want to laugh. Did she think I was angry? Is my comedy material that bad?

About twenty minutes later, they were checking out so I bagged their groceries and tried again to get the little girl to smile. She never did. Oh well, off to another order across the front. I saw a little girl there. “Maybe I can get a smile out of this one.” I thought. I talked silly to her and made faces. Nothing worked. She just looked at me like I had an extra eye in my forehead. Her grandma didn’t even know English but she laughed at me. I got a two dollar tip for it. I didn’t do it for the tip but it was  good to see just how much my comedy routine was worth. 

Lunch time came. My sweet said that I should have something more than water for lunch. I have lost a lot of weight drinking water as lunch. Orange juice sounded good so I got that and drank the whole half gallon carton. “Burp!” 

After lunch I was ready to go get more carts. Tommy Tutone was belting out his song “867-5309” as I headed out the door. “Oh look! Some silly outfit left their Sonic garbage on the pavement. I’ll leave that and grab some carts.”

After I pushed a load of carts into its place a friend called me over. “You know what? They are using the wrong paint. It’s already starting to peal off.” He told me. “They are?” He said, “It was only for a tax write off.” I don’t know much about that sort of thing. If it was up to me I would have it painted right with the correct paint. I would want it to stay nice for a long time. Maybe that is why I don’t make the big bucks.