Having Church at Walmart

                                                               Feb. 17, 2013

Today I had church at Walmart. Mind you there was no singing, nor did we bow down to the god of materialism, but there were elements of real church happening. 

It started in the make-up aisle.  Actually, a bunch of stuff happened in that section.  I noticed a woman had a great collection of herbs in her shopping cart.  I complimented her on her healthy purchases. “Thanks!” she said, “They are a birthday gift for my neighbor.”  What a cool idea, I thought.  I would love to try that some time to cheer up my neighbor. 

While I was pondering this, that very neighbor walked by!  She is a sweet, older lady who works at Walmart.  “Sarah, is that you?” 

          “Hi Kris, I thought that was you!  How are you?” 

I found out Sarah (name changed) wasn't doing so great.   “I’m really suffering from anxiety.”  Sarah is suffering from more than that.  Cancer has taken her hair in the last year, and has left her on meds that make her shaky. 

I listened and tried to sympathize, though inwardly I was thinking if I had cancer I could be anxious as well.  When she said, “It just seems there’s no kicking this anxiety,” I decided there was something we could do.

Right there in front of the L’oreal section, Sarah and I had ministry time.  We bowed our heads and prayed one of my sixty-second prayers.  “Thank you sooo much, Sarah smiled.”  I asked if she was drinking coffee.  I found out that she drinks de-caf regularly, and suggested that if she is having anxiety attacks to maybe just do herbal stuff.  De-caf still has a percentage of caffeine in it. 

As Sarah went on to stocking her shelf, I got about five feet away and ran into Jo.  Because I champion for the local school where her sons attended, she always has a big smile for me. I told her how we’d attended the Robotics Club’s demo yesterday at Kealakehe High.    I also mentioned that this plus the speech and debate club, and the United Nations club just might woo our son Evan there in a couple years.     Jo pointed out that the public high school has so many Advanced Placement classes and unique offerings that the smaller private school simply does not have.  “God will make it clear to you, though, what you are to do.  It can be different for each child.  If you really seek Him on where your sons attend school, you can’t lose.”

Wow.  Major encouragement for me right there next to the cotton balls.  

Before Jo could move on, Phillip and his son Daniel stopped for a chat.  Kindergartner Daniel was happily scrolling through a game on his new Kindle while his papa added things around him in the cart.  “I’m happy that he has this Kindle and can do all of these computer things, but I don’t like how he downloads games without asking me.”

“Ah,” the elder Jo piped up.  “Like anything, the Kindle is just another opportunity for parents to be the parents.  It’s ultimately up to us what they watch and play.”  OK.  A word of exhortation and parenting message right there near the mascara section.

I gathered my boys from the toy section and picked out a birthday card with Jo Jo  for a classmate.  We ran into a few more friends with whom we smiled or high-fived or hugged. 

As we got in line at the check stand, Daniel and his family were in front of us.  “We’re making a smoothie,” Daniel told me.  He pointed to a bag of carrots.  “My sweetheart makes especially healthy ones.  You know the lawyer on campus?”

“You mean Diane, who does the all the VISA stuff?”

“Yeah, he said in his Brazilian accent. “She is ill.  We are making her a special drink.”

There’s body ministry.  I could tell by Daniel’s face that this was serious.  I made a mental note to pray for this woman as well.    My boys unloaded our shopping cart and cheerfully carried out my heavy bags to the car.  Youth were now serving as we rounded out the end of our “Walmart church service.”   

I climbed in the car next to my sleeping husband (Is that another parallel?  Sleeping husbands in church??)  and told him I felt refreshed and encouraged.  I’d just come from church inside Walmart.

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As we filed out of the sanctuary of our Living Hope Church a couple Sundays ago, our pastor called out, “Now it’s time for real church!  Let’s go get some refreshments in the garden!”   At the “real church,” we ate snacks, hugged on friends, prayed with people if we felt led, and received encouragement from each other.   Aside from the eating part, that’s pretty much what happened in the make-up section at Walmart.