January 2025
(1 minute, 29 seconds)
Stumbling into the Speedy Quick gas station, my husband and I desperately needed caffeine for the nine-hour drive ahead of us. After filling our cups, we waited in line. When I heard, “I can help who’s next,” I absentmindedly stepped forward, ordering without looking up, “One large, one medium coffee.”
To my horror, the cashier I’d interrupted and the customer she was serving glared at me in disbelief. I had unintentionally cut in line and stepped forward to the wrong register. Embarrassed, I stammered apologies and moved to the other register.
That person wasn’t much friendlier. She barked at my struggling husband to “TAP” his credit card. As I leaned over to help, my hand hit his coffee cup, spilling its contents across the counter and splattering the attendant behind it. More apologies poured from me as I dabbed at the mess with tiny napkins. The stone-faced and silent cashier ignored me while coffee dripped down her uniform. Someone from the bakery offered a towel, and my husband rushed to get one.
While my husband paid for a third cup of coffee and I went to refill his large cup, the Lord kindly reminded me of the counsel my mother-in-law had just shared with me sixty minutes earlier.
Near the end of our weekend visit, over breakfast, I had confided to my wise mother-in-law, who is now in her ninth decade of life, that I have felt at a loss some days over not having control over things that used to feel very controllable. This precious saint understands all too well the challenges of losing control over some of life’s circumstances.
Reaching for her Bible, my mother-in-law opened the front cover of her well-worn Bible and read from a Post-it, obviously strategically placed there by her and revisited often.
“There are five things you can control,” she stated confidently. Holding up her hand with five gnarly fingers and extending them one at at time, she read aloud what we can control and elaborated a smidgen on each :
- Words
- Attitudes
- Motives
- Actions
- Thoughts
Her sage advice proved relevant a short hour later. In the chaotic gas station scene, I couldn’t control spilled coffee, icy glares, or the size of the napkins. But I could manage my words (apologies), my attitude (humility), my motives (seeking peace), my actions (cleaning the mess), and my thoughts (choosing grace). Honestly, choosing grace wasn’t my strong suit that morning! However, with my mother’s insight emboldening me, I smiled at the glaring cashier, picked up my coffee, and walked to our car.
(Photo: Jon Tyson, Unsplash)