Fred Meyer Cart Guy

Sunday...6:45am…I roll back over really not wanting to get up. Too bad Puyallup is 30 min away and I have to be there by 8.

8:30am…Finally make it to my destination with only one missed exit, one large turn around and the gas gage at "E"

9:00am…Psych myself up for a day spent at the Car Show/8th grade fundraiser I am recruiting at.

1:30pm…Realized eating two hotdogs was too much for one day. Also realized that the van's battery was dead. Guess I'll be at my booth till the bitter end till the nice man who is running the show can jump me.

3:20pm…van back in action still reminding me that she is thirsty. Takes about a decade to find a 76 gas station that the school's card will work at. Turns out most of them are out of commission.

4:20pm…van back at Auburn. Me back in my car…let the errands begin. If I don't run errands today, they won't get done. Last week I was asleep as soon as I walked in the door thanks to jet lag and a brand new job…not conducive to getting anything accomplished in the evenings. Turns out I can get a lot done at 3:30am when I wake up for the day.

6:30pm…ding! last stop…Fred Meyer…check! My gas tank is no longer empty and neither is my refrigerator. I let the cart slam into the parking lot holder and I am headed home.

10:35pm…check the car twice, check the apartment three times, check my bag 18 times. Nope…no wallet to be found. Panic. Prayer. Pacing.

10:36pm…the cart slamming into the other cart at Fred Meyer runs slow motion through my head…OH NO!!!  Dread feeling hits…my wallet was in that cart…yelling at me with his tiny blue voice, "don't leave me, don't leave me!!!"

10:45pm…think to call Fred Meyer…no one has seen it.

10:55pm…not trusting Fred Meyer phone dude, I jump in my car and head their way. I check the parking lot holder…no carts. I awkwardly crawl around the carts in the entry. I ask the front desk lady if she has seen my tiny blue wallet. She calls the dude from the phone I am guessing. I get embarrassed and want to leave. She says it is better to check…maybe they found it she says. The silence kills me. The lady on the other side of the phone is looking…looking forever it seems like.

Lessons I learned from today:

1.             two hotdogs is too many

2.             remembering what the maintenance guy from the school you work at looks like is key to not looking foolish

3.             car shows are much more fun when you know something about cars

4.             Keeping track of precious things is important for maintaining proper stress levels

5.             Man is basically good. You don't believe me? Ask the Fred Meyer cart guy who found my little blue wallet. He left it alone…my dollars are still there…and he turned it in. What a good guy/girl...whoever they are.

Book Review: Strength to Love

Strength to Love
Author: Martin Luther King Jr.

The Overview:

Oh, Reverend King...you rocked my socks! I should get paid by the publisher or something because I have been telling everyone and their brother how good this book is. I'm not a sermon reading enthusiast, but this collection of sermons penned by the man who had a dream, but first had a church and a whole ton of conviction kept me turning the pages.  His 1950s wisdom for a segregated America is still incredibly applicable to our "social injustices are not my problem" America. Preach that social gospel Brother King!





The Good:

Each Sermon/Chapter talks about something a little different: Nonconformity, Communism, Weakness v. Strength, Liberalism, Nonviolence, etc. But a couple of the chapters were instant winners for me.

Chapter 8, the sermon entitled, "The Death of Evil upon the Seashore," asks the question, "Why does God allow evil to exist?" King's answer is neither arrogant nor passive and gives an interesting perspective on God's power v. God's purpose. Look up the chapter online and read it for yourself!

I just finished the last chapter, Chapter 15, "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" and I almost wish that had been the first chapter because it gave a lot of context about the time period and King's personal life at the time of these sermons as well. It talked about his personal philosophies, how he came to the conclusions he did and how diving into various theological theories rounded out his view of man. Super interesting. I would definitely suggest reading this particular sermon online if nothing else.


The Memorable:

"God has two outstretched arms. One is strong enough enough to surround us with justice, and one is gentle enough to embrace us with grace."

"The gospel at its best deals with the whole man, not only his soul but also his body, not only his spiritual well-being but also his material well-being. A religion that professes a concern for the souls of men and is not equally concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion.

"Most people, and Christians in particular, are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority opinion, not thermostats that transform and regulate the temperature of society."

"We must learn that to expect God to do everything while we do nothing is not faith but superstition."


The Recommendation:

Enlightening, historical, heart-changing.

a monday...with the label of last

Today is my last Monday interning at World Vision.
Jenn says that I am a very sentimental person.
This is true. Good memories are like hugs.
I like hugs.
I also like cupcakes.
I think the one I just devoured will be my last of the day.
We don't normally have cupcakes, but today was someone's birthday.
Sometimes lasts are hard for me.
It is hard for me to say good-bye to good things. To let go.
Let the current do it's job Jess.
Let the next adventure surprise and delight.
Jump in and don't hold back.
Hugs, and cupcakes, and good things will come again. They always do.



I am not sure the bit about the last cupcake was a whole truth...



...but I guess you'll never know.