I’m not much of a shopper. Well, we all shop, so I guess that makes me a shopper. But I don’t enjoy shopping as a pastime. I don’t enjoy perusing. I don’t go shopping without a purpose—or without a list. The purpose of shopping to me is to get what I need. It’s not an explorative adventure. But every now and then, it is more about people and connections than a shopping list.

As my girls grew up, we enjoyed our annual school shopping trips. Even when they didn’t need many supplies, we made shopping an excuse to spend a day together and appreciate the process and history. Occasionally, we expanded our shopping circle to include another generation, and my mom added richness to those trips.

I don’t remember ever thinking ahead and hoping I’d have multigenerational shopping trips. I don’t know that I ever romanticized any type of shopping trip even with my girls when they were young, probably because shopping has always been a focused task for me. Perhaps also because I will take the blessings in front of me in a moment over the blessings I try to plan.

And that means I am often surprised by blessings, which is what happened last year when a shopping trip added yet another generation. Four people, four generations, abundantly multiplied blessings. We added on what I didn’t imagine in the first steps. The foundation was there—long before me—not specifically shopping, simply connections, relationships. The foundation can be present whether we build on it or not. The foundation doesn’t guarantee us anything. But it invites and allows us to build on something solid. I can squander. I can ignore. I can destroy. I can carefully and intentionally build. That takes humility, authenticity, wisdom, and…correction. Sometimes what we build breaks. Sometimes it is unstable. Sometimes we can improve. Rebuilding is difficult, necessary, and abundantly rewarding.

There were several times during our multigenerational shopping day I paused and took in the blessings of the day. I often say, and even more often think, “I get to…” I get to spend time with family. I get to deepen relationships. I get to enjoy deep and wide friendships. I get to pour into and be poured into by coworkers. I get to serve and be served by people I love.

Most important to me, I get to constantly grow in my faith. Since shopping is often a list to me, faith is at the top of that list every day. Faith is the foundation of anything I do, individually or multi-generationally.

I love that I get to…faith.

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