Pricey Eggs, Empty Shelves, And Grateful Hearts

“I’m embarrassed to bring you into our stores.”

I was 16 years old, standing in a small city grocery store in Zimbabwe. I looked over at our young Zimbabwean cook who’d just spoken. I remember he was only a couple years older than me. He was a kind and genuine person and so I believed he meant what he said.

“But why?” I asked, confused.

“Look at the shelves,” he said, “they’re almost entirely empty and I know in America the shelves are always full.”

I was taken aback. I had been so fascinated just to be in a country much different from my own. I’d noticed the empty shelves, but I hadn’t realized my new friend was just as aware… and so bothered.

“Oh,” I thought for a moment and then said, as articulately my 16 year old self was able, “in some ways, I wonder if you aren’t the better for it than we Americans.”

He looked at me and asked: “Why do you think that?”

“Well, we have so much… so much… that I don’t think we even know to be grateful for it. I would imagine you’re much more grateful for everything you have than Americans even know how to be. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing on our side.”

Now, maybe I was naive in how I said it, or maybe my timing was off.

But to this day, I’m convinced that the foundation of my statement held a painful truth. And living in the days we are… it’s more evident than ever before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Crisis

Until 2020, I never gave much thought to this interaction from so many years before. But in these three years since the world seemed to flip on it’s head, I’ve thought of it many times.

I remember the fateful night, mid March of 2020, when we were running low on toilet paper and I realized that the TP Crisis wasn’t just a social media rumor. I remember thinking: Wow, the world has gone crazy, but I’m sure in a month it will all be forgotten.

And yet we all know that was just the tip of the ice burg and along with a pandemic came empty store shelves and soaring grocery prices… soaring everything prices.

It took a good year to get over the toilet paper trauma. And now…

$4.00 for a head of green leaf lettuce?

$8.00 for a small pack of paper plates?

$4.00, $5.00… $8.00 for a gallon of gas???

And eggs… Oh my word, eggs. I’ve gotten to the point that I only purchase organic, cage free eggs because they are hardly more expensive and sometimes even cheaper than the regular, pale yoke eggs. I never used to do that because I thought I couldn’t afford to… well, now it seems I have no choice unless I want to skip out altogether.

We walk into grocery stores (and although they are still incredibly better stocked than many other countries), there are far more empty or sparsely filled shelves than I’ve ever seen in my life.

All of this due to either shortages in the items themselves or shortages in sufficient hands to stalk them.

I’ve often considered popping into the local Dollar General or the Walmart in town and begging them to let me stock for free for a few hours. Neglected pallets, yet to be unpacked, often line our grocery store aisles.

Perhaps for the first time ever (for many of us), Americans are finding ourselves hit in the face with the reality that what we used to take for granted can be taken away. Something so simple as a carton of eggs or a roll of toilet paper may not be available when we need it.

For the first time, what’s available or affordable today, might not be tomorrow morning. We’re looking ahead and wondering how to prepare, how to prosper, when everything feels unpredictable and out of our control.

And though it reveals our spoiled nature to say so… it’s a foreign and uncomfortable feeling.

The Cause

Now, that is a discussion worth having.

That is also a whole other blog all unto itself.

In short…

Some believe that Covid was an accident and Trump mishandled it (thusly the economy crash). They believe there have been some random cases of bird flu and few accidental factory and plant incinerations, explaining the empty shelves. Also, people are simply choosing not to work (understandably) to protect their own health. And everything else is Vladimir Putin’s fault.

Others believe that Covid was released with purpose, that Trump did his best to handle what he was given and the economy prospered until he left the presidency. They also believe there have been a highly suspicious number of home grown chickens suddenly unable to lay, animal sicknesses sky rocketing, as well as factories and plants burning down left and right. They believe people are refusing to work because Covid lockdowns created laziness and government dependance. And basically everything is the fault of the current administration’s desire to destroy America.

And maybe there are a few that sit somewhere in the middle.

Now, you may already know where I stand on this, but I’m not going to say because, you know what? That’s just not the point I want to make.

All in all, no matter the cause, we were a nation that used to prosper… and we’re watching that prosperity disappear before our very eyes. American’s are faced with a crisis that’s outside our control and I fear it has left many of us feeling bitter, confused, and frustrated.

The Lesson To Be Learned

Ultimately, at the end of the day, whatever the cause may be, there is a sovereign and faithful God who rules over all and nothing happens outside of his command. If I call myself a Christian, that has to mean something in how I handle the days of plenty and the days of little. (Though our “little” is still much more than many throughout the world will ever know).

So I ask myself, what can I do? What changes need to happen in me?

Well…

1. I Should Stop Complaining

I think the fall back in the midst of all this is a discontented heart and complaining lips. I’m so incredibly guilty of it. I stood next to my friend in a foreign country and told him how spoiled Americans are, and yet when faced with having some of the ease and privilege removed, I only prove myself sadly correct.

The complaining needs to stop. To be concerned is one thing. To discuss problems with the hope if implementing change is important as well. But it can be so easy to fall into a spirit of grumbling and complaining and we know for sure that’s not what Christians are called to and it certainly won’t help a thing.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, -Philippians 2:14

But the good thing is that we are called not only to “put off” certain sinful behaviors, but also to “put on” others in their place.

So what else can I do? How can I better spend my days?

2. I Should Be Proactive

For a while, having your own chickens or garden might have been worth it for health reasons, but it didn’t necessarily do much for your bank account.

Not that it’s ever been a bad idea, but now, for both your health and your financial stability, owning animals and working gardens are some of the wisest moves to make.

Yes, it takes commitment both in time and money. But the reward you will reap is so worth it. Home grown meat and vegetables are unbeatable for flavor and nutrients, but it’s also something you can work hard at, something you can count on, something you can learn from when you make a mistake. It’s a very worthwhile way to spend your time.

And many wonder if they have the time… so start small and grow from there! Also I wonder how much time we spend reading articles and scrolling social media, focusing on everything wrong with the world, when we could spend some of that time being proactive to create something good.

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. Proverbs 12:11

And I’m preaching to the choir… I’ve always loved gardening, but I was never going to own animals. Now I’m considering becoming that stereotypical homeschool mom with a hobby farm in the back yard.

3. I Should Be Content

I know, I know, it feels impossible and it’s a life long battle.

But did you know that one of the verses in scripture most taken out of context, in context, actually gives the greatest reassurance in our ability in Christ to be content.

When Paul said “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, he wasn’t talking about brute strength or the ability to jump buildings in a single bound. Read what came before and be encouraged:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13

Another popular verse is often missing the first part. When Christ promised not to leave us, these were the instructions he gave before hand.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

He knows our tendencies to be discontented and compassionately reminds us over and over that He is enough.

4. I Should Be Grateful

Remember my story from the beginning?

As Americans we are prone to being more like the spoiled child on Christmas morning who pitched a fit because, after opening an abundance of gifts, they are missing that one thing they wanted and are left unsatisfied and ungrateful.

Think about it, what brings more opportunity for gratitude?

Perfect circumstances? Getting just what we want? Resting in assured worldly abundance?

Or resting in the faithful provision of God, no matter the circumstance? Realizing that he knows exactly what our true needs are and every good gift we have is from him.

When we come to the point of seeing that nothing on this earth is guaranteed and that the only good we have is a gift from God, then every small blessing is that much more precious to us.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Things could be better, sure, but they could also be far worse. And they may yet be far worse. So let’s have grateful hearts for what we’ve had, what we have now, and whatever God provides in the years to come.

To lack is sometimes a hidden blessing as we learn to depend more on the Giver of all good things.

Above All

I’ll end with this beautiful passage from an Old Testament prophet:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer’s;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

Habakkuk 3:17-19