January 23 – “An only-at-WalMart sight”

It was a dreary, rainy, downright stormy day.  So of course the first thing we did was leave the house.  It was Thursday, so we had water exercise.  The weather wasn’t too bad at that time, though.  We made it home before any of the bad stuff started, but I still had to make a trek out to the church property.  I wanted to take a look and see if there was anything we needed to do in terms of cleaning it up.    

I had just read in the paper that morning that the lady who has been leasing the church’s property to stable her horses has been arrested for cruelty to animals.  All of the horses have been confiscated and taken to shelters to be rehabilitated, so at least they will be cared for.  We knew she has been having some difficult times financially, so we have not been pushing for the rent.  She was hoping to make do until her busy season, which kicks in around Spring Break.  As it turned out, her difficulties were more severe than just rent.  We’ll have to see what happens next.  There’s a much deeper story behind what is happening there, but suffice it to say that a lot of prayer is needed.  At issue for the church now is that we will have to do the clean-up of the property to bring it to compliance with the city’s requirements.  I tried to get to the area that needs to be cleaned up, but I was afraid I might get stuck in the mud, so I backed out of there.  Guess I’ll have to put that on my ever-expanding list of things that have to get done yesterday. 

I was also going to stop by several of the fire stations, but by that time I decided that the weather was just too much.  It’s times like that when I really appreciate those fire fighters who go out in it, rain or shine, to take care of folks. I did have to stop off at Walmart, though.  We were out of dog food and almost out of fruit and milk, so the stop was quite warranted.  And little did I know that I would be rewarded with one of those only-at-Walmart sights for sore eyes you read about.  As I was rounding the bin to pick up some oranges, there stood a man … in a skirt.  Now it’s not that he was trying to dress like a woman.  I didn’t get that sense at all.  He was just a guy dressed in a skirt.  Went down to about his knees.  It wasn’t quite a kilt.  I could have handled a kilt.  Some of the finest men I know wear kilts and play drums and bagpipes.  It was solid black and it had pockets that looked like blue jeans.  And it didn’t have pleats or anything.  It was just a skirt.  I guess I have to add that he pulled it off, too.  Carried himself proudly, and wasn’t even drawing many strange looks.  More power to him I guess.  Welcome to WalMart.

I have to add a post script here.  When I told Chris about the guy at WalMart I used the terminology, “He managed to pull it off.”  She had a very brief moment wherein a look of utter shock spread on her face.  She muttered, “Wait.  Wait.  Do you mean that he … pulled it off?  Like took it off?”  By the time she finished her thought I understood where she was going, and I wish I could have kept enough of a straight face to spin a different yarn-worthy ending to the tale.  Didn’t happen, though.  The image in my mind was a bit too … overwhelming.

Psalms 40:2 says, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

Father, be with the lady and her horses.  Take care of the fire fighters who have to respond in the rain and cold.  And thank you that our assurance in life comes from you and not from what we wear.  Amen.