If you’re like me, you’re the person on the right. Having no plans and staying home is an exciting night for me. Being out and about where it’s all ‘people-y’ can be exhausting. While some days I enjoy getting out of the house (I work from home, so new scenery is a nice break), I honestly prefer being in the comfort of my own home – just me and my little family. While that is fine and certainly needed, I also need to be, and I quote The Little Mermaid, ‘where the people are’, even if it’s not necessarily what I feel like doing.

I don’t know if anyone has ever heard of Dawson McAllister, but when I was a teenager, our youth group went to one of his conferences. As a teen girl, I was preoccupied with boys and the bands that would be playing. I got to meet Out of Eden and hang out with one of the guitarists from Barlow Girl (which I didn’t know it at the time), but there were a few things that reached past the boys and the music and made it to my adolescent ears. One of the lessons he taught, that has stuck with me all these years, was that Jesus wasn’t a people person because it was in His personality. He was a people person because it was what He came to do, and that we are called to do the same.

I haven’t always been an awkward, slightly introverted person, so I didn’t know the impact that lesson would have on me later in life. I now find my mind going back to this lesson every now and then. We are called to witness and love people, which means we have to interact with people in some way. That’s not always easy for me, but this past Friday I learned the importance of just being ‘present.’

If you know me, you know that for years I have gotten my groceries every Friday with my sister, and then we go get a coffee. After having baby girl, I changed up my grocery routine. I changed the day and time, trying to work out a good fit. Then, Walmart starting doing the online ordering and pick-up… a new mom’s dream come true!

During our Friday routine, my sister and I have made friends with cashiers and a few other Friday night ‘regulars.’ One of these regulars, I can’t tell you her name because I don’t even know it. I’ve seen her in here for years, and we’ve waved, smiled, talked, and would then continue our shopping.

The first time I met her was in the cold aisle. Her husband was looking for something and started chatting with me about all the flavors of cream cheese. He was a friendly guy. That was the one and only time I saw him in there with her. Some time later, she mentioned that her and her husband always went grocery shopping together, but he was just too sick lately to come.

Fast forward a few years to last Friday. Beings baby girl was getting a little easier to take out and about, I decided to go into the store so I could check out some things in person rather than online. We made it all the way to the back of the store to the chip aisle, and then we saw our friend. She was so excited to see us! She gave us hugs, and asked where we had been. After telling her that I had been doing the online thing because of the baby but decided to come in this week, she smiled and said she had missed us and that we should skip the online and come in the store because it was important to get out of the house and be around people every now and then. We talked some more about the baby, and then she totally caught me off guard.

The conversation led to her sharing with us that when she was a young girl, her sister, who she was very close to beings they were only a year apart, passed away at the age of 9. Then that same year, her older teenage sister died on Christmas day. She lost her son to cancer a few years ago, and then her husband passed away a year after that. There I was, standing in the chip aisle, with tears in my eyes. She said we’ve all experienced loss, and it hurts, but it’s a part of life. She said was sure she’d see them all again, and we were able to share our faith with one another right there in the middle of Walmart.

I’m so thankful God can use me as I am, and that I don’t have to have an outgoing personality to be a ‘people person’. Sometimes an awkward hello is all it takes.