not my favorite store

To say that Walmart is not my favorite store is, well, an understatement. This is not a political statement, it’s just true. I try so hard to have a patient open mind, but I’m usually frustrated before I even find a parking spot. There are just so, so many people. And they all have their own pace, which usually doesn’t make much sense to me.

Saturday I had to go to Walmart. And with Ella in tow no less. This trip was no different than any other. I was maneuvering my car seat-filled cart around people every turn I made. As I traversed the store multiple times in search of the four things on my list, I was constantly accosted by brightly colored displays of stuff that I, supposedly, need.

By the time I had found my items, Ella made it known that she was done shopping. Her patience had worn thin. I made my way to the front of the store, only to find multiple people waiting in every check out. No surprise there. I found the checkout that seemed to have the best people to items ratio and hopped in line.

Ella didn’t really agree with my choice to stand in line. So there we stood in line, rocking the cart back and forth, praying that her little cries wouldn’t annoy all the people around me. Then something I wasn’t expecting happened. A Walmart employee spotted me and offered to check me out in the closed lane next to mine. Why yes, yes please!

He quickly rung up my items and was very cordial. He then agreed to check out the guy who walked up behind me, confused by the presence of a person in the “closed” lane - and I was on my way. Then as I was just walking outside, he came running up behind me with a bag of items I had left behind. What service. What a space cadet.

I won’t go as far as to say that this experience has changed my desire to shop at Walmart, or even changed my perspective of Walmart. That’s not realy what this story is even about. But I will say that I was touched by the encounter with this man. It was certainly nothing over the top. He simply help a flustered new mom.

It got me thinking though. How often do I look outside the things going on in my own little world and help someone else? Our new theme at church is servilization - and to me, this man epitomizes what servilization means. Servilization … a civilization of people following Jesus’ lead to serve others. We don’t serve out of religious obligation, our for the accolades, but rather because Jesus has changed our hearts and we look at people differently - or at least we should.

If we are truly following Jesus’ lead, our priorities, our perspectives and our purpose in life should be different. When I think of serving my mind mind usually goes straight to volunteering. Volunteering is certainly a great form of serving! But volunteering is an event. I like the concept of servilization so much because it reflects a way of life rather than an event.

Being a part of a servilization means holding the door for someone with their arms full, even if they’re still across the parking lot. It means smiling and being friendly the the cashier, rather than being impatient and rushed. Basically it means stepping outside of my own little busy world, with my own agenda and to-do list, and looking around at the people in this world with me and how I can make their day and life a little better. And that’s my challenge for today.