Regulars

There are several regular customers that shop at Target, more specifically, Food Avenue on a daily basis. While I do enjoy Target, and food avenue does have some delicious blueberry pretzels with killer streusel topping, I have never understood why people come every day. Sometimes more than once a day.

There is the old lady that I call crunchy cookie lady. When I used to work at food ave, she would throw her change down on the counter, and was always asking if the cookies were hard. She looks mean, and her voice has always made me cringe. When she is done at food ave she shops, and always tries to get things cheaper than they are priced.

There is the tall guy that came in every day and would sit at the table for at least twenty minutes reading his paper. Sometimes he would leave it behind so we would be able to read it. On some days he got coffee, other days he didn't. He attends Mars Hill. I haven't seen him in a few months.

There is a middle age woman who comes in a couple of times a week. She is mentally challenged. I am not sure what is wrong with her, but the first time she saw me in my uniform, she was very startled and went on and on about people carrying guns. She will walk up to random people and talk to their babies. There are a few team members that she regularly looks for, and will pester them with silly questions, and ramble on forever if they let her.

But the ones that intrigue me the most are the old married couple. They are probably well into their seventies, or maybe even eighties. She walks really slowly with a walker, and seems very weak. She always has a tiny bit of snot hanging from the tip of her nose. He helps her walk, and is very gentle with her, often putting his arm gently on her back as she walks.

He helps her sit down and gets her comfortable, and then orders their food. Usually, they get a banana nut muffin, warmed with butter, one peanut butter toffee cookie, and two senior coffees. Sometimes it varies. He always helps her cut up her food, and is so sweet.

I wonder what their story is. I would love to know where they have been, how many children (if any) they have. I would enjoy sitting down at the table with them one day and asking them to tell me their story, every boring detail. To give me any advice they have. For now, I make up my own story for them. And it changes every time I see them, but I am still curious to know their journey, what makes them tick, and why in the world they come to Target every single day.

Good Things

Today, as I rest at home, I am joyfully overwhelmed with the great possibilities that are in our future.

The main reason that we moved away from Muskegon, admittedly not very far, but away nonetheless, was to create some healthy distance from our broken and hurting families, and to (hopefully) ultimately break the generational curse. Even though we wanted to move, and felt as though it was the right thing to do, it was not an easy transition.

We spent a few nights saying "remember in Muskegon, how..." before we realized how potentially dangerous those thoughts were, and if we continued to think that way, we would never enjoy our new home. (for those of you who may want to ask if we plan on staying in jenison- that is a good question. All I can say is, we are open to change, and do not want to quit growing.)

Over the last few months, I have begun to see part of the benefit of moving here, and I truly believe that good things will continue to happen. I am not foolish- I know that life will never be free of challenge, and I don't expect our lives to ever be boring.

However, the peace and joy that I have had in the last few months has been amazing. And when I think about the future, mostly I am excited. I am thankful for the people that have been placed in our lives, the relationships that are forming, and those in our lives that continue to offer hope.

I can sense freedom in our lives. And that is good.