the best onions i ever bought.
last night, lindsay and i were shopping in the largest wal-mart in the state. we just so happened to be there during their pre-black-Friday restocking madness… not a good time to shop at wally world. in spite of this… kickin’ it with my bride is always a joy, whatever we do.
after about an hour of wandering (aimlessly) up and down rows of groceries - dodging the flats full of boxes - i was sent on a mission. see, up to this point, i was just the lowly cart pusher… but that’s beside the point.
my mission… go get two onions.
simple enough.
after searching, i finally found the onion section. like everything else, they were being restocked. i asked the guy stocking them if i could grab a couple and without giving him a chance to respond, i asked him, if he didn’t mind, to pick out a couple of good ones for me…
according to his name tag, his name was jeff. he was a supervisor of some sort - busy and stocking hurriedly. but, he stopped and went through several onions on my behalf. with great care and purpose, he began selecting onions from the box - squeezing and rotating each one until he found two he was happy with. i bet he went through a dozen or more before he found two he deemed appropriate and he handed them to me.
i thoroughly enjoy meeting and talking to people, and i’m thankful my path crossed with jeff because he reminded me that i’m never too busy to stop and help someone, even with things that - on the surface - appear to be extremely simple.
i’m busy as can i can be at my day job… in fact, the past 8 months have been extremely overwhelming. it’s been dragging me down. i’m busy every hour of the day, hurriedly going through the motions of my job in my partial cubical… running around with blinders on, overlooking the extraordinary.
to some, i undoubtedly have a “weird” view of things sometimes. regardless of your opinion, i’m thankful i was in tuned to my onion experience – as it was extraordinary.
in the hustle and bustle of life, i think it’s easy to miss out on the extraordinary… which is very unfortunate.
each moment is a once in a lifetime moment that should be taken advantage of. even so,we fill the day up so full that we drown out - or overlook - the small things that are, more often than not, most meaningful & purposeful.
the only perfect man the world has ever known died so that i can live… not an ordinary life - but life to it’s fullest! (John 10:10)
whether the Lord has me stocking onions – like my friend jeff – or sitting in my partial cube… my goal, and my charge to you, is to seek out the extraordinary and to live an extraordinary life.