The word "miracle" is thrown around more casually than I like. Some use it to describe an upset win by the USA Olympic hockey team. I use it to describe things where logic and science fail me. The origin of the universe, for example. The creation of a child, for another. The only miracle I can personally attest to happened shortly after my Dad passed away, when the ring I inherited from him somehow made its way to the dashboard of my locked car overnight.
Being Dena's birthday, I decided to ask her if she needed anything from the grocery store on my way back from church. She described a jar of marshmallow creme that I'd find with other baking accessories when I got there.
I last baked something during the Clinton administration, so I can claim only a cursory understanding of the layout of the baking aisle at best. As I floated down the lane, my eyes scanned vigorously for the tell-tale blue lid and bright white coloring but wasn't spying anything.
Suddenly there was a "WHUMP" sound behind me. I turned, and there was no one behind me in the empty aisle. On the floor, however, was a package of chocolate. I glanced up at the shelf that it had slid off.
The first thought that sped through my mind was to leave it there. If I put it up, it would probably just slide down again, right? The next 12 customers would do the same; the employees wouldn't know there was a problem; frustration would build. By walking away I was doing Kroger a favor, right? Alerting their staff to a vital problem.
I changed my mind. I could make that package stay in place. As I took two steps back and bent down, a flash of white caught my eye from the very bottom shelf.
Jet Puft Marshmallow Creme.
If that package hadn't fallen at that moment, I would've been wandering. The chocolate had no problem staying in place when I restored it. There was no clear reason why it fell when it did.
I give credit to God.
No, I don't think it was a miracle. Gravity and laws of friction explain how things fall off shelves. But incredibly convenient timing, that's a God thing for me. It was a test in a way, silently offering me a reward for a random act of kindness. These little moments are affirming for me; my faith in God is buttressed by the small things, the work of a master watchmaker on the largest imaginable scale.
2 comments:
I. Love. This. Post.
Finding and seeing and embracing the small- even seemingly trivial moments in life....adds up to a big faith in God that no one can penetrate. Yes- it may have been a fluke. Sure someone could have helped you find the item. No God was not ignoring everyone's bigger issues to strike down chocolate to lead you to marshmallow creme. But YOU saw past the smallness of the moment and took it as a God moment none the less.
Now. What desert did she make? Cause I love marshmallow creme!
Thanks! The creme was for her fruit salad!
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