Kenya, the Supermarket, and Grace

This last week, I've had the privilege of having a guest over from Kenya. Just a quick run-down, we met in a Jesus-conference in Malaysia because he lost his small group. Our small group adopted him for an afternoon, we exchanged email addresses, I got his regular updates, he came to the United States (in Washington state), and he ended up coming here to the Bay Area for a week. If he didn't lose his small group back in September, we probably wouldn't have met and he probably wouldn't have come here to the Bay Area. Crazy how God works sometimes.

Anyway, it's been a real blast having him over, hearing his story, hearing about what he does back home, and just hanging out. For the first couple of days, he just kind of tagged along wherever I went including the supermarket.

I never thought that I'd feel embarassed in a supermarket. We didn't even go into a Costco (because Alinna and I don't have a membership). He and I went to Safeway. I was all fine. Parked the car in the lot. Got out. Walked in through the automatic door. Then, as I walked into the store and saw the wide selection of food available, I suddenly felt embarassed of the excess in America.

He didn't do or say anything to make me feel embarassed at all. He just kept on smiling, talking with me about his family and what he's been doing since he came into the United States 4 weeks ago. But still I wanted to go through as few aisles as possible in the shortest amount of time (for this reason I decided not to get Doritos even though I had a coupon that would get me two bags for $3). I power-walked through the aisles, went through the checkout counter, got even more embarassed when the person at the register announced my total at a decibel level that seemed like it would rival a Rolling Stones concert, pushed the cart out the store, and finally I picked up my eyes and looked at him again.

The whole experience (which I repeated again with him at Albertsons and Smart & Final later in the week) really reminded me of the privilege I have as an American and brought new life to the times I've prayed before a meal thanking God for the food He provided.