Saturday, April 14, 2018

April 14 – “Hidden intent”


We made a seemingly unremarkable trip over to WalMart yesterday.  Nothing at the start to indicate that it would be any different from any of the other thousands of WalMart excursions we have taken over the years we have lived here in Galveston.  I mean, I was limping a little from my sore knee, but we still managed to make it to the cart rack and grab something for me to hang onto for the romp through the store itself. 

We headed in the direction of the garden section, but I was able to deftly maneuver a course away from there and more in line with other, more reasonable pursuits.  But I was playing the long game, and I wasn’t about to reveal my hidden intent just yet.  We passed by some shirts that caught Chris’ eye.  Ah, a perfect opportunity.  I encouraged her to try them on.  After all, she has been looking for shorts for weeks now, and her search intensified after we signed on for the cruise (No, we’re not leaving any time soon.  It’s in two years.  Well, a year and a half).  So we headed in the direction of the changing rooms.  She even found something else to try on right on our route.  And as she disappeared into the changing room, I told her I would be in the electronics department (Insert evil, “my plan is working perfectly” laugh here). 

And she found me there not long after, two clothing purchases in tow (which is a huge accomplishment for my wife.  She hates to go shopping for clothes).  But what did I have in my sights?  Ah, so glad you asked.  It must begin with a little background.  Ever since Hurricane Ike we have had the use of one of the original Blu-ray disk players, a gift from some dear friends.  It covered one whole shelf on our little entertainment center.  And it worked like a charm up until a month or two ago.  That’s when it decided to fine tune its dinosaur-esque skills and only operate when a DVD was placed within.  That’s right.  A Blu-ray player that only played DVD’s and NOT Blu-ray disks.  For most of our needs, that has been fine.  Our collection of movies is primarily in the form of DVD’s anyway (we are, after all, somewhat dinosaur-esque ourselves.  We even have some VHS movies that can be played in our combination DVD/VHS player that no longer plays DVD’s.  Sensing a pattern here?).  But we do have some key titles that we could only find in the Blu-ray category, so they have been sadly off limits. 

So here we were.  We just happened to be in the electronics department when Chris arrived with her purchases.  And suddenly an idea struck me.  “Why don’t we look at the Blu-ray disk players?  They play DVD’s, too, and you know ours doesn’t work on Blu-rays anymore.”  We searched for an aisle or two, and then I asked the poor. Bored guy at the counter where they might be found.  Sure enough, they were fairly close to where he said they would be.  And not all that unreasonable.  Just cheap enough to get under Chris’ “But do we really NEED it or is this just a want?” radar. 

Success.  It was in the basket and bound for our house.  Fascinating, too, was the advancement in technology since pre-2008.  This player was miniscule compared to the old one.  It wasn’t much bigger than one of the disks we put in it.  And speaking of disks …

As we headed out of electronics toward the fruit, we just happened to pass by the movies section.  And there just happened to be the next movie I have been wanting to see (Jumanji).  And it just happened to be only available in Blu-ray.  And there just happened to be one package that was considerably cheaper than the other.  And I just happened to stumble upon that difference.  And we just happened to need a new sample to try out in the new machine we just got.  Why, one would think I used my time wisely while Chris was trying on those clothes.  Hmm.  Use my time wisely.  Sounds like good advice.

Colossians 4:5 says, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; Make the most of every opportunity.”

Father, help me to use my time wisely in matters that make a difference.  Amen.

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