Miles In Missions

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
(Matthew 5:13-16)

I recently visited Walmart and there was a lady in front of me as I entered the store. She grabbed a cart and then I grabbed the next one. I followed her as she began to walk through the entrance and then she stopped right in the middle of the opening of the electronic doors. She grabbed a wet wipe and started to wipe down her entire cart. There was no room to enter the store as she was blocking the entire entrance. I immediately thought;

How rude and inconsiderate!

Why are you going to make everyone wait on you as you wipe down your cart?

I inched towards her thinking maybe she didn’t realize I was there and she looked up and moved a few inches and said, “Oh, Sorry!” and then continued to wipe down her cart. There still wasn’t enough room for me to get around her so I inched even closer. The same thing happened again and this time I was able to get around her. As I was passing by her she finished wiping her cart and started to enter the store right next to me. She looked at me and said in a very condescending way, “Thanks so much for waiting so patiently for me.” My immediate reaction was, “No problem!” and hurried in an opposite direction. I could not believe she had the nerve to say that to me in that way. I was so frustrated now. Frustrated I had to wait, frustrated someone thought their time was more important than mine and then frustrated that she had thought I was the rude and inconsiderate just because I didn’t want to wait on her to wipe her cart down.

Really….all I wanted to do was peacefully go out and get some groceries. People are so rude!

A few days later one of my moms took me to the hospital for a medical procedure. From the moment we parked in the garage every person we came in contact with received a, “Good morning!” “How are you?” “I love your shirt!” “Your earrings are adorable, where did you get them?” From the annoyed receptionist at the waiting desk, to the busy nurse rushing in to get me hooked up to the anesthesiologist, every person was warmly greeted by her. It was so funny to meet each person in the hospital and see their agenda on their face and the moment my mom started talking to them, their shoulders started to relax, they slowed their pace and engaged in conversation. Every one of them ended up leaving us with a big smile on their face. 

God totally used this to show me what Matthew 5:13-16 is all about.

I want to be salty like my mom.

I want to add a little flavor into each person’s life and watch them walk away with a smile on their face.

There wasn’t a single person that day with my mom that walked away saying something condescending to us or frustrated with us. I know that every person she came in contact with left with a cup filled of Joy and spilling out onto the next patient and the next patient and the next patient. I cannot say the same thing about the lady at Walmart I came in contact with or even myself. We were both probably rude and frustrated with every person the rest of the day because of our little three minutes interaction with each other at the Walmart entrance.

What a difference a little salt can make in someone’s life and everyone else they come in contact with!

Dear God,
Help me to be salty in a world of sin where spiritual decay is happening all around me. In a dull and mundane life, help my joy and creativity bring flavor to other people’s lives. Let the world see You through me. Help me to be salty.
Amen