The Journey: Grocery Store

Showing posts with label Grocery Store. Show all posts

June 02, 2018

MY OTHER LITTLE SISTER

I was about six years old and my sister was sixteen months younger than me. One day we went to the little country store that had recently opened up in front of our house. The owner’s name was Amos. My grandmother had known him since he was a little boy. Around mid-day, there were always several men sitting around inside eating lunch.

I don’t remember exactly what it was, but my sister, Loretta, wanted to get something and my grandmother told her no. So she fell down on the floor and threw a tantrum. She was crying, and kicking, and screaming. All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, our grandmother grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, and gave her a good spanking right there in front of the store owner and all those men. Let me tell you, she never ever acted like that again.

Another time, though, we had gone to that same store and returned home. That’s when our grandmother noticed that Loretta had a candy bar. She asked her, “Where did you get that candy bar?” She said, “From the store.” Our grandmother told her she had to take it back and tell Amos that she had stolen it. She didn’t want to do that so our grandmother went outside and got a small branch from a tree and stripped the leaves off. We called that a switch back then.

She gave her a switching and we all headed back to the store. We went inside and walked up to the counter. Loretta laid the candy bar on the counter and said, “I stole this.” Amos said, “Oh, it’s alright. You can have it.” My grandmother quickly spoke up and said, “No it’s not alright. I ain’t gonna have them stealing.” We left and went back home. I never knew of her ever stealing anything again.

I believe that one of the reasons there are so many disrespectful, lying, thieving people out there today is because they were not disciplined as children. There’s nothing wrong with disciplining your child in a loving manner. I don’t think you should ever discipline them while you’re angry, though. You should pray and ask for God’s help and guidance before doing anything. I wish I had done that when I was raising my three.

If we would get back to raising our children God’s way, our world would be a better place. We need to make God number one in our lives and follow his word. Here are a few versed from the Holy Bible about disciplining children.

Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 29:17 – Correct your son, and he will give you rest. Yes, he will give delight to your soul.

Proverbs 29:15 – The rod and correction give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame.

Proverbs 22:15 – Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13-14 – Do not withhold correction from the child because if you hit him with the rod, he will not die. You will hit him with the rod and will deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 13:24 – He that spares the rod hates his son, but he that loves him disciplines him early.

Hebrews 12:11 – No discipline seems to be delightful at the time, but sorrowful, but afterward it brings the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.

God tells us to discipline our children and train them to do right. They need to understand there are consequences for all wrongdoing. That will help them learn to obey God and avoid the flames of hell fire which is the ultimate consequence of doing wrong. Consistent, loving, discipline works, and when they’re grown, your children will understand, and they'll be grateful that you cared enough to correct them, just like my sister is thankful for our grandmother’s discipline today.

January 20, 2018

FINDING TREASURE

We lived in Theo, Mississippi from the year I was three years old until the year I turned twelve. I had many adventures in that little community and I loved living there. We lived in four different houses during those years. I remember five different little country stores being in the community during that time. There were two pretty close to our house and they were in business at the same time with a third one a few miles down the main highway. One of the two that were close together closed down when I was maybe five years old, but another one opened up across the road so there were three again. We always lived within walking distance of a store and we would walk to our aunt’s house as well.

By the time the fifth store opened, we had moved again, and it was about the same distance from our house as the other two where we usually went, but we only had to walk a short distance on the highway and then cut through a church parking lot. Then it was just a short walk up a gravel road that never had much traffic.

One day, as we were walking to that store, I was dragging behind my grandmother and my two sisters at the time. We weren’t really in any hurry, anyway. Then, all of a sudden, I saw a dollar bill on the ground. A dollar was an awesome discovery at that time, so imagine how excited I was when I picked it up and realized it was a ten-dollar bill. I was so excited! I ran to catch up with my family yelling, “Look what I found, look what I found! I found ten dollars! Y’all walked right over it and didn’t even see it!”

I was rich! We walked on to the store, but I was not trailing behind this time. I was out in front, leading the pack. I went into the store and started looking to see what I could buy. What do you think a kid with ten dollars would buy in a grocery store forty years ago? If you said candy, you’re right. Sodas were only a quarter then, and so were candy bars. You could get ten pieces of candy, like Jolly Ranchers, for a penny. Double Bubble chewing gum was only a few cents each, and a pack of 16 baseball cards with a stick of gum inside was only a quarter. I bought several things for myself and my sisters and still had lots of money left over. That was a great day.

Another time, I found treasure was really like a scavenger hunt or an archeology dig. Back then, Coca-Cola was giving away prizes. I think you could win several different things, including free drinks and money and you didn’t have to wait. You just give the store owner the cap and get your drinks or money. We didn’t have much money to buy drinks, so we didn’t have many opportunities to win, but I had an idea. The bottle caps that could only be opened with a bottle opener were still being made, and the stores in the neighborhood had coke coolers with bottle openers that hung on the front with a long reservoir that held the caps. When they were full, they could be taken off the cooler and emptied into the trash. I asked the owners if we could look through their bottle caps before they threw them away. One store owner, Mrs. Wilbanks, said, “Sure.”

There must have been fifty or sixty caps in there and we looked at every single one of them but only found one winner. It was a prize of ten dollars cash. I gave the cap to Mrs. Wilbanks and she opened the cash register and handed me a ten-dollar bill. I don’t remember what we bought that time, but I’m sure we went wild.

These memories remind me of a parable that Jesus told about finding treasure. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he went and sold everything he had and bought that field (Matt. 13:44).

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven to show us how valuable it really is. He wants us all in his kingdom. When we understand what a treasure he has to offer us, we will give up all worldly things and put our trust in him.

In John 3:3, Jesus said, “Unless a person is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God.”

At first, Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying. Many today do not understand what it means to be born again. Jesus explains it more clearly in Matthew 18:3. He said, “Unless you are converted, and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Children are pure and innocent. Jesus, Peter, and Paul compared being born again to becoming like babies; like becoming a new person. We’re basically starting over with a new life like a baby. We drink the pure milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2, I Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:13). We learn like children until we become stronger in knowledge and graduate from milk to solid food. We are learning to be holy instead of the old sinful person we were.
We’re born into this world as servants to sin because of Adam. The new birth is absolutely essential if we want to go to heaven. Without it, we can’t be saved. Remember, Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

Salvation is free, but each person has to accept it for themselves. If you haven’t been born again, I urge you to ask Jesus to save you right now. If you need more information on how to be saved here’s a link that will help.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

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https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
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My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

November 06, 2016

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS

Growing up, I was really shy, so I’ve had a lot of embarrassing moments over the years. Some were worse than others, but if you’ve ever been embarrassed you know that it’s not any fun, no matter the intensity. Embarrassment is embarrassment.

I’m sure it happened before, but the first time I recall was when I was around seven years old. We were at one of the neighborhood grocery stores, and the owner’s daughter, who was quite a bit older than me, and her mother were talking to my grandmother about me. Probably talking about how cute I was, or something. I don’t remember, because right there in front of her mom and dad, and my grandmother, and a store full of people, the girl looked at me and asked, “Are you, my little boyfriend?” I don’t know why, but that was so embarrassing to me.

Later on, when I was eight years old, our church went on a field trip to an amusement park. I had never been to anything like that before so I was super excited. We enjoyed lots of rides, games, and food, but at some point in the day, I saw the bumper cars. I ran to get in line. There were lots of other people there, so the lines were quite long. The line in front of me grew smaller with each group of kids that were let through the gate. They would drive around bumping into each other, yelling and screaming. They seemed to be having the time of their lives. I could hardly wait to get in there and join in the fun.

Then, it was time for another group to go in. When the gate flew open we all ran as quickly as we could and jumped in the cars and waited for the guy to throw the switch. Then it happened. The cars started moving. The kids started yelling. The fun had begun, but there I sat in a car that wasn’t moving. It didn’t work. I had gotten in one of several cars that were out of commission. I just knew everybody in line was staring at me and laughing. I was so embarrassed.

Another time, after I was ten, maybe fourth or fifth grade, we went on a field trip from school to an electronics factory called ITT where they made phones and other electronics. I was at the end of the line, and my friend Randy was in front of me. I had turned to the side and was looking around, not really paying attention. The line was long and curved around the corner and down the next aisle, so I could see the teacher and the kids at the front of the line from where I was standing.

When I saw them start moving, I stepped forward without turning all the way around. Then I bumped into Randy. He wasn’t moving, so I pushed him and said, “Go on!” But he didn’t budge. I stepped back and looked at him, but it wasn’t him. I looked up into the face of a strange woman staring down at me with a mean look on her face. Another embarrassing moment in my life.

Another time, we were at school and it was lunchtime. We were just sitting down in the lunchroom. We had stools there to sit on at the lunch table at that time. In getting himself situated after he had sat down, Randy bounced the stool a couple of times to get closer to the table. On the last bounce, he picked that stool up and slammed it down on top of my foot. As I screamed as loud as I could, my voice echoed through the cafeteria and probably down the hall, and into all the classrooms. That was embarrassing enough, but one of the teachers made it worse by yelling at me in front of a room full of my peers. Very embarrassing.

On another church outing, we went to the skating rink. I think I was fifteen then. Although I had played around with a pair of my mother’s old skates, I had never really tried to skate before, but I put on a pair that night and headed out on the floor. Immediately, my feet flew out from under me, and my elbows both caught the full weight of my body as they smashed into the concrete floor. That was embarrassing enough, but it would be worse later. My sisters did well, but it took me quite a while, and quite a few bruises to get used to moving around on those little wheels.

Later that evening, I was doing a little better. Although I was much slower than almost everybody else there, I was soon making laps with them. Then a pretty girl came in with some friends and started skating. I noticed her watching me, and that made me even more nervous than I already was. We exchanged a few smiles, and finally a few words in passing. It wasn’t long before I was feeling pretty confident, and being a dumb teenage boy I forgot that I was just learning to skate.

I don’t know exactly what happened, but the next thing I knew it felt like my knee was ripped out of my leg, as I landed on it in front of a mob of speedsters flying by, trying desperately to avoid becoming part of a twenty-skate pile-up. I could only imagine what the girl I was trying to impress was thinking as I pictured her standing there looking at the idiot rolling around on the floor, writhing in pain. There I was with my broken pride, a ton of bruises, and a big hole in the knee of my green nylon pants. I was sooooo embarrassed.

I’ve had plenty of other embarrassing moments in my life, but the most embarrassing moment I could ever imagine, is standing before God and hearing these words, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” That’s what Jesus says will happen if we are not faithful to God (Matthew 7:23, 25:41). He also said, “But whosoever denies me before men, I will also deny them before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).

That would be more than embarrassing, it would be detrimental. Eternal Life forfeited. I can’t imagine anybody truly wanting that. If you haven’t been born again, what are you waiting for? You can come to Jesus today, just as you are. In Matthew 10:32 Jesus said, “Whosoever confesses me before men, I will also confess them before my Father who is in heaven.”

Romans 10:9-10 says,
9 If you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your mind that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 Because with the mind, a person has faith that leads to righteousness, and with the mouth, confession becomes salvation.

You don’t have to be embarrassed on that day. Confess him now, ask him to forgive your sins, and commit yourself to follow, and obey him today. He’s waiting.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6