I'm Going To Disneyworld!!!
I was standing in line at a craft store recently, partially observing the transaction ahead of me. There were some coins left on the counter and the clerk said to the woman, “Oh, here’s your change.”
The woman replied, “No, I believe that’s yours.”
The clerk started to say no, that it wasn’t, then looking puzzled, hesitated.
The customer added, “remember, it came to [some amount that I didn’t hear] and thirty-seven cents. That’s the…”
“Well, if you’re sure,” said the clerk as she swept up the money.
“Well no,” the customer chuckled, “I’m not sure.”
The clerk hesitated, not knowing what to do.
The customer said, “Oh, take it. I’m sure that it’s yours. I gave you the change so that you wouldn’t have too…”
“Well, I guess…” said the clerk in exasperation, then added, “This has been the worst day ever—the absolutely worst day of my life.”
“Have you been busy?” asked the customer kindly as she gathered up her purchase.
“No, it’s just been an awful day.” Her voice began to break. “The worst day in twenty-one years.” Not knowing what else to say, the customer said, “Well, I hope that it gets better for you,” and left.
The customers who had been behind me had moved to another register that was moving faster. As I approached the clerk I tried to look sympathetic. She quietly rang me up and said, “My best friend died today.”
“I’m very sorry,” I said.
“I’ve never had anyone that close die like that,” Her eyes began to get moist. After a pause, she added, “I feel guilty because she needed a kidney transplant—I could have given her one…I didn’t…”
She fought back the tears and handed me my change.
I didn’t know this person. She was simply a stranger who had lost a dear friend and was in pain. There was nothing I could say to her about her donating a kidney. I had no idea what her situation was and it wasn’t my place to ask. I wanted to say something so I grabbed at the only straw that I had.
“Was she a Christian?”
“Oh, yes. She was a warm and loving person. She was very close to God.”
There was no one else in line so I paused to say to the clerk. “Have you ever seen any of those commercials where some big sports guy is running off the field and the announcer says, ‘hey, you just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do now?’ and he says, ’I’m going to Disneyworld!’”?
She said yes, she was familiar with them.
“Well, what if,” I went on, “there were a little child that had won an all expense trip to Disneyworld and her mother told her that she couldn’t go because she would be missed. Think how disappointing that would be to the child—how unhappy she would be.
“Your friend just won a trip to Disneyworld, only better.
“You know, your sorrow isn’t for her; it’s for yourself and all of her friends who will miss her. She’s in God’s kingdom having the time of her life.”
As I moved towards the door I added, “If God would let her send you a postcard, I’m sure that she would tell you, ‘Hey, don’t worry about the kidney. Things worked out just great! Its better than you can imagine. I can’t wait until you get here!!’”
I smiled and turned to leave, but she stopped me. She came out from behind the counter and gave me a big hug. She smiled and told me thanks.
I smiled at her and left.
I don’t know what I would have said if she had told me that her friend wasn’t a Christian.