Thank you, grocery man.

The last 48 hours have been overwhelming...Perhaps it is because I had become accustomed to not doing ANYTHING last week over Thanksgiving? But truthfully I think that I was actually overwhelmed, which rarely happens. Last night I realized that I had a 10 page paper due at 3 o'clock the next day. I hadn't even looked at the assignment. (symptom of senioritis is procrastination... not in my nature, just simply a side-effect.) I also had made plans to go to bed early so as to be able to be extra sharp at my new job I was starting the next day. Somehow,  I managed to get my paper done last night. Luckily it was for my marriage prep class.... A topic I am somewhat coherent of...ahem...oh wait....

Today I started my new job. I woke up super early to get there, I tried to remember everything I was supposed to at work, I rushed back to turn in a 10 page paper,  I did all I could do to make it to class on time, and went to class for a few hours. From school I went straight to the gym, then straight to the store to get some food for my cupboards. I was starving, and naturally it was taking me an abnormally long time to grocery shop. I felt like it was one of those nights where everything CARB-PACKED was screaming at me "BUY ME!!!" So naturally, I arrived at the check-out about 45 minutes later.

I don't know why I started writing about carbs, and my random cravings for junk food when I am grocery shopping...

 I got to the checkout and I realized that I had forgotten my debit card. I ran to my car to get it, and when I came back to pay, the bagger girl informed me that the guy behind me had just paid for my groceries!!!! I was SOOOO blown-away!!!! What inspired him to pay for my $35 of groceries??? I chased the guy down in the parking low and he refused to let me pay him back.

That simple experience changed my attitude completely. I was in a rut thinking about how tired and stressed I was, and in the mean time the person next to me at the checkout didn't think twice when he had the opportunity to do something nice for someone else.

I think that I have opportunities every day to serve someone.  I keep thinking back to how dumbstruck I was the entire drive home after that experience. It was $35 worth of groceries...but really it was so much more than that. This random stranger chose to do something kind for someone who he didn't even know the name of.

This experience reminded me of one of my favorite talks given in the October General Conference by Elder M. Russell Ballard:

 In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honey bees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible.

President Thomas S. Monson has taught that in many instances Heavenly Father answers another person’s prayers through us—through you and me—through our kind words and deeds, through our simple acts of service and love.

And President Spencer W. Kimball said: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other”

I was so inspired by the charitable act of that random man in the grocery store. His kind act reminded me of the importance of serving others at any opportunity we have. I think that I miss many opportunities to serve, and it is probably because I am too caught up in myself to seize them! I am grateful that I was blessed with this reminder of the joy that comes through simple acts of service!!!! I'm sure that man will never fully comprehend the depth of influence that his act of service had on me!