Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat
on her face, walked into a grocery store.
She approached the owner of the store in a most humble
manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.
She softly explained that her husband was very ill and
unable to work, they had seven
children and they needed food.
John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested
that she leave his store at once..
Visualizing the family needs, she said: ‘Please, sir! I
will bring you the money just as soon as I can.’
John told her he could not give her credit, since she did
not have a charge account at his store.
Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard
the conversation between the two. The customer walked
forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for
whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a
very reluctant voice, ‘Do you have a grocery list?’
Louise replied, ‘Yes sir.’ ‘O.K’ he said,
‘put your grocery list on the
scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give
you that amount in groceries.’
Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she
reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and
scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of
paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.
The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement
when the scales went down and stayed down.
The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the
customer and said begrudgingly, ‘I can’t believe it.’
The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the
groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not
balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on
them until the scales would hold no more.
The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed
the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.
It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said:
‘Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am
leaving this
in your hands.’
The grocer gave her the groceries that he had
gathered and stood in stunned silence.
Louise thanked him and left the store. The other customer
handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; ‘It
was worth every penny of it.
Only God Knows how much a
prayer weighs.’
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