A Little Bit Funny

I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. It all started when an elderly woman stopped by the shop. Her gray hair served only as a backdrop to accent the dark leathery look of her wrinkled face. She wore a crooked pair of old horn-rimmed sunglasses along with her blouse, vest, and skirt all in bold striking patterns – none of which matched. In her basket was the fruit she was asking the owner to buy. “No thank you”, was his reply, and then he asked if I might have something for her. In a moment I was back from the van with a bag of lentils and sopa.

They were on the sidewalk talking when I handed her the bags and said, “This is for your family in the name of Christ the Lord, the Savior.” The owner was quick to explain to her that I was a “Christian” while he was a “Catholic”. I wondered how she would take this turn of events and if she would be too offended to accept the food.

It only took a moment to discover that not only was she not going to be offended and she had a few words for the owner as well. They were along the lines of:

“How can you honor the image of the Virgin Mary? She was a virgin but she cannot give you salvation.”

“They are not your friends.” (Speaking of those who encourage him to parties and drinking)

“These sins are taking you to hell.”

“You can’t change little by little, it needs to be immediately.”

“You need to listen and learn from this man.” (Speaking of me)

It was a serious moment. Her intensity caused me to listen stone faced, but I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh inside. There was no way I was going to be so bold to say these things, yet here was this little elderly Mexican lady saying them. I learned something that day. The Lord is a consuming fire…and sometimes His ways are just a little bit funny.