We struck up a conversation in the spice aisle over which was the best or cheapest vanilla flavoring.  We both agreed it had to be pure vanilla extract - brand didn’t matter but price did.  She shared with me a good buy in seasoned crackers she was gonna try.  As I started to walk away, this sweet lady said something about the blood of Jesus.  I quickly moved closer to her and said, “ Tell me again what you just said.”  She began to recite words that seemed very familiar, like she had often spoken them before.  She said, “ Let me give you some advice.  Take Jesus’ blood with you when you go out the door, when you come in the door, and wherever you go, Jesus’ blood will cover you and protect you; keep you safe. “. My heart leaped at her message and somewhere during that exhortation, we had clasped hands! She said she was 79 years old and she had learned things in those years, she told me.  There in the Walmart aisle by the spices, we stood in the presence of the God who loved us equally, even though we were different races, different skin colors.  She had learned a lot in her 79 years, but one of these was not hate.  She had learned love by being connected to a God of love.  I was thankful that I had learned the same in my 74 years!

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