Part of my job as the produce lady includes replenishing the wet rack. You know: lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and the like. To do this, I often wheel out the entire u-boat filled with wet rack items. This also means I am often in people’s way as they are trying to navigate the produce department. To compensate for the obstruction I am causing, I try to be aware of the people around me and let them know I can move if they need me to.
As I was replenishing the wet rack today, I noticed a young boy (I would guess to be 8 years old). The boy began at one end of the wet rack, looked high over his head to read the signs, studied the vegetables, and walked down to the other end of the rack while continuing his search. Then he walked over to the organics section. Then he walked back to the other side of the wet rack again. I think he went back and forth a total of three times, taking a good 5 or 6 minutes. I knew what was going on here. He had that “I’m on a mission” look on his face. I knew mom had sent him on a mission to find a particular produce item and he was determined to accomplish the mission.
Having felt this same panic before (my mother was always big on sending us out on important missions), I walked over to him and asked, “Can I help you find something?”
He was obviously happy someone came to help, “Yes!”
“So, what are you looking for?”
Although he was happy for the help, he was unable to identify what he was looking for. “Umm, well… it starts with… an ‘R’… then an ‘O’… then an ‘M’…”
“Oh! I bet you’re looking for romaine, right?”
I could see by the look of relief in his eyes that I had guessed right.
“That’s it! Where can I find it?”
I walked him over to the romaine (which he had passed a good three times already), handed him a head, and sent him on his way. Mission accomplished.
The boy was overwhelmed. Mom had sent him on a mission to find a kind of lettuce he couldn’t pronounce, he could only remember three of the letters, the wet rack was massive, the tags identifying the vegetables were too high, and he was afraid to ask for help.
We’re on a mission too. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
This task is overwhelming. We have been sent on the most important mission, we don’t always remember everything He has taught us, the world is massive, it has been marinated in sin, and we often feel we are going it alone.
Like the boy, we’re afraid to ask for help. Or maybe we just forget to ask for help. We must not overlook the verse following Matthew 28:19, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is not a mission we are called to take on alone. Not only do we have our brothers and sisters in Christ with us, but we also have the very one who sent us on the mission with us at all times.
Like the boy, once the mission is accomplished we will be rewarded. I am sure he had a mother at the end of his mission saying, “Well done!” At the end of our mission, our Father will say to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). Don’t fear the wet rack.
No comments:
Post a Comment