I went beach camping most this past week. It wasn’t until the 3rd afternoon I finally got bored. Not miserable bored… just relaxed bored. The picture above shows one of the spots I camped at. I set my tent up underneath the shade of those Kansas Palm Trees (aka Cottonwoods).
Now that I have so much time I don’t feel I have any excuse for getting stressed. This for me is the hardest thing to get used to: slowing down. I usually run around half-frazzled because I’ve scheduled too much to do in a day. Now if I run around half-frazzled it’s kinda ridiculous because I’ve got nothing going. It’s made me stop and think about why I’m ever anxoius in the first place.
For instance, I was at Aldi’s the other day… and let me first preface this story by saying I don’t usually shop at Aldi’s because it’s not convenient. However, with all my free time I figure there’s no reason to not buy stuff cheaper just because it’s not as fast.
So anyways, at Aldi’s I’m in the checkout line and remember they only accept cash (or debit cards) which I have neither. Therefore I have to leave the store and make a run over to the bank to get cash. Then when I come back to Aldi’s now the checkout lines (of which there are only two) are sooo long I have to literally wait forever. Normally this would have irritated me and this time was no exception. However, I did remind myself there was nothing I had to do the entire day so there was zero rush, I could take my time.
Of course Jesus never was in a rush, something I’ve always found interesting. Presumably he was never anxious either. He said we are not to worry. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said not to worry three times.
I tend to either worry too much or too little. Lately I’ve worried so little about my future I’m in danger of becoming unproductive. Hence this blog post: I felt a need to create something.
The thought above about Jesus saying not to worry 3 times reminded me about how I’ve been noticing the number 3 in the Bible of late. I find numbers in the Bible interesting and think they sometimes have significance, though not always of course.
The number 3 can mean many things in the Bible, but in general it can be noted as a number of completeness or finality. I’ve noticed that number used quite a bit in the end section of Mark I’m currently studying. Whether it means anything or not… you can form your own opinion. Here are the instances I’ve noticed.
The clip below and picture above were both taken Monday, June 27th when Joe came out to help me enjoy the evening while I was camping.
I challenge you to allow me to use a stop watch to determine just how ‘inconvenient’ Aldi actually is versus Dillons/Walmart when doing shopping! You will be delightfully surprised I think when you see the actual results! Keep shopping there! Why do you think Walmart is building a market right next to ALDI? They fear that store…
at Aldi’s you have to 1) pay a quarter to get a cart 2) bag your own groceries with your own bags 3) pay with cash or debit only 3) walk down the entire length of the main aisle first before you can cut over to other aisles 4) choose from their limited selection of food items which means one probably has to go to Wal-Mart or Dillons as well.
But maybe you can teach me the tricks Danny on how to utilize Aldi’s to the best advantage…
p.s. thanks again for letting me borrow your waterproof camcorder!
May I address each concern individually?
1. We keep a quarter in ash tray of each vehicle for this express purpose. (NOT to be used for any other reason)
2. Who says you have to have a bag for every item you buy? Use a box, they have them there and you can carry much more in it not to mention much faster! (by the way, the cashiers at ALDI can scan circles around the clerks at other stores! Their hands move so fast they are blurry!)
3. The aisle’s are not actually very long when compared to the open space one must travel in other, larger stores.
4. If you MUST have a particular brand then perhaps this store will not be convenient to one’s discriminating tastes, but they do actually have a lot more selection than would appear at first glance.
P.s. I promise you, the grocery bill can be slashed by close to 60% (!) by shopping at this good store!
P.P.s. no prob, glad you were able to utilize this and hope you get one! Amazon.com is good place…