Loving Your Neighbor...Even the Annoying One

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31).

This includes the annoying, high-maintenance lady standing in front of you in the checkout lane at Bigg's.

See, she needed – no, had to have – a certain Indian noodle for a dinner she's making tonight. And in Broadway high-drama told the cashier she'd "looked high and low, scoured the entire international section" and couldn't find it (oh, dear!). To be honest, her nervous gestures reminded me of a bobble head doll sitting on an unbalanced washing machine. Annoying. Really annoying.

An associate in International Foods was called in to help. Then someone in the bakery section. Then the manager.

Then my patience.

There we sat as store employee after store employee called or walked up to hear her plight.

"Geez, lady they're noodles. Just grab some angel hair pasta and call it a day," I muttered to myself.

We've all been behind people like this. At the grocery store. Grabbing a bite to eat at a fast food place. At the Post Office. And truth be known, I wasn't in a big rush, but come on. There is a flow to these things, an unspoken time limit each of us have as the "Now Being Served" person. And this lady was way over her time limit.

As I was about to move to another line, grumbling something about a "Hyde Park housewife...got nothing better to do with her time", God stepped in. Amidst this chaos, God waltzed in and gave me two words, "Help her."

What? Help her...how? I don't know anything about noodles, plus she's getting on my nerves. (pause, pause, pause) "Oh, ok...I'll help. Show me how."

By this time, the lady said she had to go, other errands to run and all, and was bagging her $190.00 worth of groceries. When my order was complete, I stood there bagging my own groceries alongside her. And like a kid not wanting to say, "I'm sorry", I muttered, "Go to Fresh Market...they'll have your noodles."

She was taken aback at first. And then her panic turned to a smile. "What?" she asked cautiously.

So I told her some specialty places to go find the right noodle as well as a couple Indian restaurants that could help her out. And as a bonus told her to check out Jungle Jim's. Her smile turned into a look of shock and she said, "Oh my gosh, thank you so much...I would have never thought of that. Thank you, you just made my day. Thanks again!"

Suddenly she wasn't so annoying anymore. She was a real person with real problems, disappointments and struggles and all she needed was a break. And I'm glad God told me to stick around and help, because I learned a big lesson about the importance of grace.

So my prayer for you this week is that you cut the guy in traffic some slack. You don't sweat the annoying coworker. And you smile when God puts you in an annoying situation, to show you a way to "love your neighbor" in it all.

Because He loves us 24/7. Even when we're the high-maintenance, annoying people in the checkout line.