2 Kings 7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

Today’s telling isn’t going to be spiritual insight. It is going to be about people watching. Yesterday I served my wife as she did business in barter town. Wimberly Market Days is a great place to observe people. Here are a couple from the day.

Mom and dad with their four children come into the shop. The three younger boys had two one dollar bills in hand. They came with older sis who had some babysitting money to spend. They looked around not expecting to find anything they wanted, it’s a jewelry shop. The boys had been given money by dad to spend wisely. A lesson was being taught.

Normally we might have just given away these chips of geos to cute kids like these, but a lesson was being taught. I recognized the look on dad’s face as he watched the boys. “Value son. Get value.” I knew not to just give, that would have gone against the lesson. The each spend a dollar for two geos.

Mom was so proud of her daughter. A seventh grader with a passion for veterinary medicine. Bright confident and motivated, if this young girl was the example of parenting skills, those boys are headed in the right direction for a meaningful life.

Then there was the three grown daughters of a retiring school teacher. Her eye took to the glistening opal necklaces. Perhaps a little pricy, and definitely not a bargain shoppers dream. But mom took it out into the sunlight where it radiated almost as brightly as mom’s face. They left without buying.

Twenty minutes later they returned. The elder daughter made a counter offer on the opal. I was so happy to see my wife accept the offer. We wouldn’t make as much profit, but I like to think we received that much value in the joy we got to see, in love expressed and love received. How can you put a price on that?

In short, good life is happening all around us, even if it isn’t happening to us, we can still appreciate it and take pleasure in it.

2 Samuel 9:11 As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.

Crippled at a young age when his nurse dropped him, Mephibosheth was hurt by one he trusted. This was a physical damage but emotional crippling can happen also. Often times they are caused by people we trust.

We are the body of Christ. When we are hurt those who are closest to us are the most effected. Break a toe, the foot hurts, the leg automatically limps without being asked by the head. It is the natural reaction of the body to help when members are in pain.

A few days ago I learned a respected friend lied to me. It wasn’t an insidious lie, perhaps not even worthy of thought as most people reckon. I’m not most people. It was my respect given, it was my trust broken. I haven’t seen this man in years. I don’t even know where he is now. I have no recourse but to limp.

My first reaction was old habit. Judgment set in. That isn’t who I want to be, it is who I was in another life. Then like Mephibosheth, it was diner time and I got to sit at the King’s table as a son. Nothing is ever going to undo the damage. I might come broken, I might need a high chair, I might need a pillow, but I get to sit at the King’s table as a son.

There are many healthy, wealthy and wise that cannot say that.