Nehemiah

'Tis the evening of St. Nicholas saint's day whom I could REALLY blog on (I bet I know more than you do about this good man who lived in Myra in Turkey in the fourth century) and there were at least two things in the KC Star newspaper this morning that I could blog on tonight.

But I just wanted to do a gentle piece on a young man I met this evening. Nehemiah is his name and he is a bagger at Price Chopper on 103rd down south. Those who read this fairly regularly know that grocery store is where I go most of the time. This is about Nehemiah

I had gobs of groceries tonight, piled high on the cart, with stuff not only for the family, but snacks and items for communion for our district's Advent Day Apart for Pastors tomorrow. Although my hand is on the mend, I was not looking forward to loading all of these groceries in the back of the Prius. I really did not want to spend the money to tip the bagger to load them for me. That was going on in my mind. When I approached the check out lanes, all had people with carts two deep so I pulled up behind what looked to be the most promising line. But as I did, the security guard motioned me over to the next lane which was just opening. Ah, a blessing! As I pushed my cart over, and started putting my groceries on the belt, a bagger appeared. I know several of the baggers there, but this guy was new. I noticed his spikey, but not too much so, jet black, his great smile which was genuine, and then how polite he was at the 16 9r 17 years of age that I guessed him to be (being "m'aamed" is a rare thing, and now that I am nearly 55, I think I like it). Something that I always ask the bagger, since even at wonderful Price Chopper my experience with this is spotty, is to put the cold stuff together. Each time I do this I try to by easy about how I say it as to not offend the bagger by inferring he/she is stupid or something, so I said to this young man, as he began to bag, "Please put the cold stuff in bags together" his wonderful smile,not a sarcastic smile but a real one came on his face, and I quickly said "not that you wouldn't do it anyway" him still sweetly smiling and saying with no sarcasm, "Yes, maam." Then the clerk asked about my hand, and nearing the end of the her task with me, said "You want drive up, don't you?" and to be honest I did want drive up and out I went to get the car and bring it around to the pick up door. The same bagger came out to put the groceries in the car, and as he was putting the last two bags of groceries in the passenger side of the car, since we'd run out of room in the back, I started to give him a tip--and when he saw it in my hand he said, "oh, no maam, I don't need a tip", "oh," I said, "but I want to give you a tip" and by this time I really did, and again he refused. At this point, I asked him what his name was. "Nehemiah" maam." And I said, "that sounds like you might go to church somewhere." "Oh, yes maam," he said, And then he named his church without a blink, a church with the word "revival" in its name, and I did not get the other words. I said "I want you to have this tip. I'm a United Methodist clergywoman." I am not sure why I said that...maybe that I wanted him to know that I knew his kindness came not just from being kind, but from his faith? Or did I feel like I needed to justify why I wanted to tip him? I think somewhere when I said that his name sounded like he went to church, if he had said no, I would have asked him if he knew what the man was like in the Bible who originally had that name. Who knows?

He took the tip after I pushed him on it and I think he wished by a blessed week.

This was a little moment, probably all told I spoke to him less than 2 minutes. But the brightness of his smile, his refusal until I insisted to take the tip (which has NEVER happened to me at any other time in my life that I can remember), and his sweet spirit was probably the neatest thing that happened to me today. He warmed my soul; he made me think; and his willingness to give me a little special help without price gave me a brief moment of grace, glorious grace, and I am grateful.

It is true that is in these little grace-filled moments, we sense Christ's coming.