Yesterday that guy would have never guessed a couple thousand people would read about him later. But this story is one worth repeating in hopes of preparing others.

So many times I’ve walked away from someone who has said something so mean that in my shock, I didn’t know what to do or say.

But ya’ know, I found that there’s actually yet another perk to growing older:  Having a quicker-then-I-used-to-have response when meanness strikes….instead my old standing there speechless (which is what I’ve done a bazillion times!) and then later thinking of things I should’ve said!!

Soooooo….True confessions:  Since bringing home Vern and Birdie I’ve only taken all the kids out a few times by myself.  Vern’s physical struggles have been a bit more tricky to navigate and with Liberty in Africa it’s taken me more time to muster the will to do it alone.

But soon that handsome hubby of mine will be leading another International Voice of the Orphan GO Team and I have been thinking I’d better figure this out before he leaves so I can at least grocery shop when needed.

So yesterday morning Ruby and I were up at 4-something and I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk as the sun was coming up. She grinned from ear to ear while shaking her head “yes” with wiggly-joy!  So we walked for an hour and as we walked we prayed, sang worship songs and I knew that today was the day!

I was pumped!!  Let’s do this!!

This silver haired mama and her pile rolled out the door just after 9 am: 8 kids, two wheelchairs, a heart monitor, and a partridge in a pear tree. Okay, maybe not the partridge.

Our first stop went well, although I often wonder what people think when we roll into anywhere.  Me and my pile.

I decided we could handle stop number two: a small grocery store.  This store is not in our neighborhood but has the yummiest almond butter that Miss Ruby loves and we’ve been out of the almond butter for awhile.

As we headed into the store, Miss Ruby started to squeal.  Not just a little squeal, but rather her “I’m-over-the-moon-so-excited-to-be-out-and-feeling-such-utter-goodness-please-join-in-my-joyfulness kind of squeal.

I mean I really was giggling at how excited she was!!  In fact her entire body was partaking in the exuberance.  She was wiggling and giggling and squealing with sheer delight through the first aisle as our slow-train worked it’s way to the back of the store where the samples were.

The sample lady was very sweet.  She and I began chatting a bit as she asked if the kids would even like some juice to go with her organic (who knew?) cookies they were sampling.

About that time I heard a man’s gruff voice kind of yelling.  I glanced in the direction of the voice and saw a man staring at me.  I couldn’t imagine he was talking to me, I mean, why would he?

So I turned back to the sample lady as she shared a sweet story with me about another customer she knows who cares for seniors and the impact her caring for them has had.

The entire time Ruby was squealing loudly, wiggling and giggling with complete reckless abandon.

Between the sample lady’s story and Ruby’s squealing I didn’t quite hear what the gruff voice was continuing to yell but suddenly I found myself turning, wondering who in the world was yelling so meanly??

The same man was glaring at me while yelling.  There weren’t any other customers and the sample lady was kind of behind her counter, in fact a wall was obstructing the view of the gruff man from her.

It was then that I realized he was actually yelling at me!!  Again, who knew??

He now had my undivided attention.

Whooooa.  Dude.  I was thinking, “What the heck is your deal?”  

Knowing I was now turned and listening to him he yelled even louder and even more nasty, “SHUT YOUR KID UP!”

Ummm, Okay Mr. Miserable.  Sure thing.

So here’s where that “age thing” came in a bit handy (finally!).

I actually smiled from ear to ear and kind of laughed.

Somehow I don’t think that was the response he had hoped for!!

So realizing I wasn’t jumping at his meanness he then yelled it even louder, “YOU BETTER SHUT YOUR KID UP – SHE’S HURTING MY EARS!!”

[[I thought to myself, “Dude! Four of my kids have yellow belts in Kee-Ill-Ki, are you sure you wanna’ go after their baby sister?” But…..I didn’t.]]

And yes, I really had smiled at him and then kind of laughed the first time I heard him tell me to shut Ruby up.

So I responded, “She’s just excited.  She loves being here!  And I’m certainly not doing anything to stop her joy!”

He then looked even meaner-then-second-skimmings (like he wanted to kill me) and yelled, “SHE’S HURTING MY EARS – TAKE HER OUT OF THE STORE!”

So I guess some would say, “He was an angry elf.”

 

He was probably 15 feet from me as I graciously and confidently spoke with a smile, “Well I guess that would be your problem. I’m not stopping her joy.”

His eyes grew really wide.

Then I just smiled at him and turned my attention back to the sample lady.

When we turned to shop some more, he was gone.  (Whew.  Thank you Lord.)

While leaving the store the manager actually was the one to check us out.  I’ve spoken to him before about random nothingness but this time I told him about the other shopper.  He was ticked and said that his behavior was totally unacceptable.  The manager’s response made me smile.

We loaded our car and headed to Costco.  Everybody loves shopping in Costco.  They have amazing samples!!

We stopped for samples of Honest Juice (yummmm).  The Honest Juice lady was the sweetest sample lady and loved the kids.  [She made up for Mr. Shut-Your-Kid-Up!]

No one was around so of course I showed her Ruby’s “before” picture.  She got teary-eyed.  I reminded her that not only does God love the orphan but He loves her so very much too!!   The kindness of the Honest lady was so refreshing.

Another passerby in Costco called to me, “You are living my dream!”  I smiled and thanked her for her sweet encouragement!

I went in to the freezing cooler to get eggs and the boys set Vern in the air-flow of the refrigerator and left him there.

His expression says it all.

Some might deem having a squealing special needs treasure or a wheelchair or two as “hard”.  And yes, there’s no doubt that some people don’t get it.   Actually probably many don’t get it.

But I can say with great joy, I am so grateful that this big ol’ rolling pile is mine.

God has been so good to me.