Jelly Beans

In order to finish a job I had to work Saturday so I decided to treat myself. Leaving town I pulled into the grocery store parking lot. H-E-B is a chain of stores in South Texas started by Howard E. Butts’ parents over 100 years ago. As the business grew from a single store into a chain of over 300 stores the name was changed from Butts Grocery to its current name. I must admit…a wise choice…as I ponder the other possibilities: “GROCERIES BY BUTTS”, or “BUTTS and MORE” or even worse “BUTTS-R-US”. Oh! I digress. Anyway, I seldom go to this store because it is not on the normal path I beat. I instinctively headed for the candy section but in dismay I saw nothing but health foods to my left and to my right. I stood there with a puzzled look on my face. “Can I help you?” asked a store employee. Explaining I was looking for something a less bit healthy…sheepishly I asked “where are the jelly beans?” “That would be aisle # 8” she cheerfully responded. “OK, Thanks”. Here we go 4…5…6...7…8…as I rounded the corner my eyes caught sight of the most wondrous candy exhibit known to man. My eyes danced with delight, my heart pounded with childish anticipation. Here I was on sacred ground…unsupervised and with so many choices to make. The unbelievably delicious delights were all flaunted in the slot machine style dispensers…you just pull the lever and… “Jackpot”…your bag is filled to overflowing. I could scarcely contain my excitement. My mind swam in a sea of bewilderment and indecision. Which flavors do I choose…jelly beans in fifty different flavors not to mention hundreds of other bite-size bits of sugary pleasure. It was almost sinful. Inspecting each dispenser and carefully reading each label…I contemplated my options. I had to eliminate some of the possibilities. To even consider getting a small measure of each was out of the question. Finally I settled on a handful of different flavors, dispensed a small measure of each, grabbed a sandwich from the deli and I was off to work.

I may no longer know where “the land of the free and the home of the brave” is…but I do know that the home of the gourmet jelly beans is aisle #8 at H-E-B.

Life is truly amazing. I can’t help but wonder why I am so blessed to live in a country that has so much it’s almost embarrassing. I could have just as easily been born to poor indigent people living in a third world country starving to death…but no…God blesses me like this.

Dear Lord Jesus, please help me remember how blessed I am.
Please help me show my appreciation by sharing my many blessings.
And thank you for each and every amazing flavor, I really like licorice best.
Amen.


1/24/2009