_Christmas was going to be a special celebration for my family. First of all it was our turn to have our son, his wife and our granddaughter with us for Christmas. Our daughter would be with us as well for more than a week, and thus our whole family would be together for the first time in a while. Finally my parents and all my siblings were coming to town to celebrate my parent’s 60th wedding anniversary. All 25 of their offspring would be together. Three days of grand times lay ahead.

I headed out on the morning of Christmas eve to do some last minute shopping. Having picked up several items at the grocery I joined a queue at one of the checkout counters. Ahead of me were two women, and ahead of them a youngish woman in the midst of checkout. There seemed to be more involved discussion with the cashier than usual.  The young woman’s selections seemed mostly to be canned foods and some fresh fruits. Watching I realized she did not have enough money to pay for the food she had picked out as she and the cashier began an item by item process of selecting things to put back in order to match limited funds with desired food for her family. The fresh food was the more expensive and therefore expendable option.

The two women immediately in front of me became annoyed by the delay and left for other lines.  I was left standing there. The items I was waiting to pay for were not essentials, but I had no worries about my ability to pay for them.

Unsure what to do I did nothing. Once again I had met Jesus, as he told us in Matthew 25.  Christmas eve heartache.

My family had a grand celebration, but the image of that woman will haunt me for a long time. I look forward to the day when all will be able to afford enough food for their families, and enough healthy food. Especially at Christmas.