Who knew a trip to Walmart would prove to be motivating, inspiring and fulfilling…. After purchasing my groceries I walked to my vehicle, placed the groceries inside, placed myself inside, then I decided to make a phone call before driving off (smart right:). While sitting in my car talking on the phone, I noticed an elderly woman who was well manicured, dressed in sweats, walking from one row of vehicles to the next with a look of utter confusion.
Immediately, I thought to myself… I know that look…. it’s the same look I’ve had quite a number of times when I’ve lost my vehicle and wished that someone would help me find it. So hastily, I jumped out of my car walked over to the lady (we’ll call her Lana), and asked if she was having trouble locating her vehicle, to which she said, “Yes, I thought I parked it on this row.” So I said, “I want to help you, tell me what type of car you have, the color and the license plate number.” I also asked if she remembered which door she entered the store. Armed with this information, I took off down the next row hunting for her vehicle while she continued to look at a slower pace, with cart in hand. 
To add to the search, there was another lady nearby who had listened to a part of the conversation and decided to join us in the search. She asked me for a description of the car then took off looking as well. After speed walking down a few rows, I decided I’d better get a message to my heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus. I prayed, “Father in the name of Jesus, please help me find this car.” I walked over one more row and to my excitement, there was the car! So I ran to get Lana and give her the good news! I also looked around for the other lady to tell her as well, but she was nowhere to be found. I believe that’s the way God wanted it to be… I thought about Ruth, Orpah and Naomi, Naomi released her daughter-in-laws to return home and make new lives for themselves, however Ruth said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God (Ruth 1:16). 
Because of the abiding love and respect Ruth had for her mother-in-law, she stayed with her and reaped the benefits from her wisdom. While Lana poured out her gratitude and appreciation on me for caring enough to take the time to help a senior lady locate her car… I was just as grateful to receive pearls of wisdom from her. We stood at her car and conversed in heartfelt conversation for quite some time. For a woman of her age and some health concerns, it was inspiring to learn that Lana worked part time there at Walmart in an exciting role. She spoke gleefully of how she enjoyed her job of communicating with people. She spoke to me with great intensity about the importance of smiling, loving yourself and her zeal for life. We talked about “the old path” (Jeremiah 6:16) and the importance of passing it on from generation to generation. Not only did she inspire me to pick up areas of slack in my life, she motivated me to continue living a life of excellence. When I see Lana, I saw myself in my early eighties still living a life of excellence. Lana said I was her “angel” sent to help her find her car that day; I told her she was my “angel” sent as my “Naomi” to inspire, encourage and deposit nuggets of profound wisdom.
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