Enlightenment at Burger King

This weekend I needed to go to the grocery store. We may all be equally weary at this point of my extreme detestation of grocery shopping in Ecuador. So in order to motivate (aka: bribe) myself to go (and partially because I was basically out of food) I decided to go to Burger King first for lunch, and then get groceries and head home.

I ordered my standard: a Whopper Jr. meal; yes cheese; no pickles (which, comically, in Spanish is "sin pikles" [seen peek-lays]; Coke Zero. My total was $4.99. I gave the teenage girl behind the counter a ten. She gave me back a ten, a five, and a penny.

I looked at the cash in my hand for a second. Here's what went through my head, all in about .25 seconds:

-She gave me the wrong change
-$10!
-I can really use that money- in a few minutes at the grocery store!
-That's not ok. We call that STEALING. STEALING=BAD.
-Give it back

I looked at the girl and said, "I gave you a ten." I held out the ten dollar bill. She looked at me blankly. [this blank look is all-too-common in my Spanish-speaking world] I repeated it, and again handed back the ten.

Understanding flashed across her face, and the cashier made the Ecuadorian "whew!" hand signal [pressing the thumb and middle finger of the right hand together and shaking the hand back and forth on the wrist; weird, right?] She proceeded to thank me profusely.

I smiled my most gracious, gringa-missionary smile that said, "Of COURSE I'm returning the extra money! I would NEVER consider keeping what isn't mine!"

Then for the next few minutes, as I waited for my order to come up, I basked in the warm glow of what a great person I am. It took a few minutes. Both for my food to arrive, and for me to realize my NEXT problem.

Was I, by chance, feel smug and self-satisfied because I DIDN'T STEAL from Burger King? Seriously? I felt proud of not stealing. Such an accomplishment after 20 years of walking with and learning from my Creator. Go. Me.

This verse popped into my mind as I munched on my french fries and pondered in a back corner of my mind how ice always seems to go so terribly wrong outside of North America:

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?" -Jeremiah 17:9

Ain't that the truth?

But then this verse brings some hope for such as myself:

"But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." -Psalm 86:15

Thanks, God.