I just happened to catch this photo of Ellie and Lia yesterday while I was at Gwen's house. I love this picture of these sweeties even though it is not a typical "smiley" photo. The girls were involved in a very detailed playtime with all of their assorted "Shopkins" and a few Barbies thrown in when I surprised them. I would bet that anyone (or a grandma) who has a girl between the ages of about 5 and 10 will know exactly what Shopkins are. For the rest of you, this seems to be the current toy "thing". These are small little rubbery characters that sort of resemble pencil erasers. Each is some item that you might get when you shop! This includes food items, clothes, shoes, makeup....well you get the idea. Each little character has a catchy name and may be common or rare and some come in little shopping baskets. As you might imagine, these little things come with many, many available accessories. You can buy entire playsets for your shopkins. There are shopkins games, cards and stickers. The good news about these is shown in the picture above. At least our girls really enjoy collecting and playing with them. The surprise when they open each package and the ability to trade any duplicates that they get, reminds me of sport trading cards. I always felt a bit left out when the boys were showing their baseball card collections and talking about trading cards. I am sure that somewhere, there is a marketing person or an engineer who came up with this idea. I asked Lia to send me a couple of pictures of her favorites and from the many (think 10) that she sent, I selected these........meet Mixie and Maxie (common) Stella Stapler (a special edition) and .....
Ellie also had to send her favorites. Again... way more than these two... meet Wendy Wedding Cake (rare) and Brimmy (ultra rare)
By this point I am sure that you are wondering WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG? Here is my story from today.
I confess that I have been doing some special shopping trips to try to find the latest (Season 4) Shopkins for these sweet girls. So I went to a couple of extra stores today, on the hunt! I love a challenge and this was a challenge. I was successful on my first stop and actually got a couple of packages of the much anticipated and longed for Season 4 friends. On my last stop, where I was actually doing my weekly grocery shopping, I decided to check the toy aisle in the off chance they might have some Shopkins. I came across a lady with three children who was stuffing her cart with all of the Shopkins that were on the shelves. I saw one small package on the floor, so I picked it up. The lady screamed at me...."THAT IS MINE!" I nearly jumped out of my skin! I simply was not expecting to get into an altercation over these silly little things. I can assure you that I did not fight this lady for these Shopkins. In the end, I think that she realized just how ridiculous she must have looked and sounded. I actually just placed the package in my cart and backed out of the aisle. I even found another package laying on the floor at the end of the aisle. I added that one to my cart, and calmly left the toy section.
As I finished my shopping, all I could think about was the power that these little toys had over this adult woman. She was willing to come to blows and look really ridiculous, to ensure that she got every last package of the hottest new toy. I was considering that kind of passion and thinking about things that deserved that much determination. I confess that I have not had that zeal for sharing about Jesus. In fact, I find it so hard to just bring up my faith or even the name of Jesus in public situations. It's a lot easier to talk about your faith around people you know. Or in places that are familiar. With so many people considering New Years resolutions, I saw an article that really touched me. And I actually decided to adapt this for myself in 2016. The article is actually from a blog written in 2013, but it feels like it is exactly right for today. The post is titled One little word that radically changed my prayers. You can read it by clicking that link. The word is "COUNT"! Or more specifically - Make it Count! I want all aspects of my life to count. That even includes having a close call in the aisle at the store. I wish I could have had a really snappy comeback for that lady. Something that would have made the whole thing count! But, alas, I was not successful. The best I can do is to pray that if I should ever be in that situation again, it will count.
So, I believe that I will pray each day that no matter what comes my way, somehow Jesus will help me to make it count for the Kingdom! Even if it is an encounter over Shopkins!
Jesus, thank you for wise words that help us to focus not only our life but our prayers. Thank you for giving me reminders that with your help Jesus, every day and every event can count for you. Holy Spirit, help me make this prayer change a part of each of my requests. Give us all more zeal to share our faith in all situations. Amen
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