Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Embarrassed (07/19/07)
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TITLE: The Dreaded Clerk | Previous Challenge Entry
By Becky Brown
07/23/07 -
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We decided we would apply for food stamps. Everyone suggested we give it a try. I remember the day we applied. To start it off the case worker was a school mate. She didn't help matters. She looked down on us and made us feel like we were failures. We were embarrassed about our situation. We were accepted into the program. Every month I would have to go to pick them up. It was a very humbling experience. Once again embarrassment set in.
On to the grocery store we went. There was one clerk in the grocery store we would try to avoid. There were times we couldn't. This lady would laugh and talk with her customers and be one of the most friendliest clerks anyone ever saw. We would step up to let her ring up our groceries. We had to tell her we were using food stamps, the smiling face, was gone, and replaced with a very somber face. There was no smile, no pleasantries, not even as much as a greeting. There was a chill in the air and once again we were embarrassed. One time I watched her after she checked us out. I pretended to be waiting on my husband to go get the car. I wanted to see if she was that way with the next couple. I thought maybe by some chance she had been friends with the previous customer and that would explain her demeanor. When the next couple stepped up, she put her smiling face back on, and greeted them. It was the complete opposite of how she had treated us. I was crushed. I knew in my heart we were doing the right thing, after all we had three small children to feed. My husband was going back to school to help his chances of getting a better job and make a better living for all of us. We used the stamps for maybe three years; not much more than that and I was very thankful for the day we did not need them anymore.
The scripture in Philippians 4:13 was one I quoted each time I had to pick up the food stamps or use them. It says, “I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength” (New Century Version). Then I would add, “Lord, give me strength now!” He always did! I soon realized I was allowing what other people thought of me and my situation cloud my vision. Instead of praising God for the blessings of food stamps to feed my family, I was ashamed. God was providing for us and I was embarrassed. God showed me my sin and together we changed my attitude.
I don't know what you are going through, but do no let others put you down. God loves you and cares for you. Remember if God brought you to it, He will bring you through it. I made it through those days and you can too. Often times when we are embarrassed about something it is God's way of teaching us a very valuable lesson. Look for the lesson in each situation you find yourself in and then take time to praise God and thank Him for what He has shown you.
Do I still get embarrassed? You bet, but it is because of some silly thing I have said or done, it's no longer about my circumstances or the situation I find myself in. Now I spend my days “fully relying on God' and thanking Him for getting me through another day!
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