I Want, I Want

When the children were small one of the privileges of living in this great nation, that we call America was grocery shopping once a month. Living in rural Alabama and having garden each year is that trips to the grocery store were less frequent.

We did our monthly shopping at Food World in Pelham, Alabama, which is thirty miles from Sugar Ridge. Food World was a gigantic store with a diversity of products. I remember riding my eldest son Andy in the grocery buggy when he was a toddler. He was awed by all the stuff the store had to offer.

When my daughter Angela was born, we stopped at Food World in route to taking her home. She was shopping straight from the hospital. When we shopped there, I had Andy and Angela in one buggy and another for stuff. People would ask me what aisle I found such lovely children. Later when they used to argue and fuss, I tried to return them for a refund, but they were past the expiration date. I would not return them, but it was a good tactic to stop the fuss.

Visiting Food World was always interesting. We would shop late at night when store was not as busy. It was always interesting to see the assortment of products and the miscellany of clientele. Back in the late seventies and early eighties, most shoppers were conservative. There were a few odd shoppers, nothing like those in Wal-Mart today. Sometimes there were folks dressed in costumes making a midnight run.

Funny things happen at Food World. One day my pastor and his wife were there. After a morning of eating fried fresh sweet corn, the stomach of my pastor started rumbling and churning signifying “GO TO THE TOILET” in a hurry. They were in the meat aisle which was far from the restroom. My pastor told his wife that he had “to go” and she responded, “You know where the restrooms are. Go.”

Leaving in a rush, he hurried to the restroom which was in the rear of the store. He opened the men’s room door and there were no lights. Feeling his way around the laboratories, urinals, and stalls, he opens a stall door preparing to dispose of the fresh sweet corn. Suddenly as he is about to sit, he hears a voice, “Excuse please.” My pastor left more quickly than he had entered.

Losing the urge the purge, my pastor quickly pulls up his pants and blunders out quickly. By this time, his wife had worked her way toward him. She commented that his trip was quick. Embarrassed, he tells her of his predicament and not having to “go.” She asked, “Who was it?” He said, “I don’t know.” Hiding behind a food aisle they watched as the rear door opened and the store manager exited waving and greeting Food World shoppers with, “Hey, how y’all doing and thanks for shopping at Food World.” He never knew how close he was to catastrophe or who almost bombed him. My pastor and his wife could never look at him again. They always looked the other way.

There is almost ten years between Angela and baby brother Aaron. We continued to shop at Food World. One night as I strolled Aaron in a buggy, he repeatedly said, “I want this, I want that.” Another shopper looked at me and said, “Why don’t you buy that young’un something?” I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Lady, if I bought him everything he has asked for, I would own Food Word.” We smiled at each other.

A couple of Sundays ago, the Sunday school teacher said that we forget that life is not about us, but God. Dr. Max Lucado, one of my favorite writers has an excellent book, It’s Not About Me Journal. It helped my life’s journey. It not about me, it’s about GOD.

During the morning worship the preacher mentioned in his sermon that many folks view God as a santa claus. Our prayers are, “God I want, I want, I want. Life is worth living when we realize it not about us.

I do not own Food World, but I did buy Aaron something he wanted. God owns everything and knows what I want and what I need.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:16-17 KJV