Tag: drive-thru

It Ain’t Just Change

3:45 PM and I had eaten nothing yet that day. I suddenly felt compelled to go to Culvers. The night before, I had gone grocery shopping and needed to swing thru the drive-thru in my kitchen, instead. I argued with myself about how I didn’t need to spend the money even as I pulled up to the order screen. Too late now!

As I waited in line for my food, God said “When the person comes out, give them the $1 dollar coin in your console from Me.” I thought well that’s kind of embarrassing. “Here’s a dollar that looks like a quarter. And oh, by the way, it’s from God! “

Change always seems so cheap or strange, to me, compared to tipping someone with a bill.

So as I debated on doing this, a young woman with my burger suddenly approached my car and I blurted out “God wants me to give you….” and before I could finish my sentence, she perked up and flashed me a huge smile. I don’t think she even cared what I was giving her. She lit up as soon as I said it was from God!

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Maybe she needed a dollar, or maybe she just needed a sign that God was thinking of her. I don’t know. We don’t need to know everything, kids.

As I drove away, God laughed. “Forget about the money. Do you not think I can get you the $8 returned to you?”

Kids, just be obedient and you can’t go wrong.

Listen and follow thru. Repeat.

Even if it is….

Listen and follow thru at the drive-thru.

Discernment

Warning: Long fear shame rant.

As Christians, can we just stop claiming everyone has a spirit of fear if that person feels “OFF” or negatively “AWARE” of something and we don’t?

Next time you want to spank someone for “fear” why don’t you first stop the judgment and offer to pray to see what God is saying about the situation?

At times, I have been accused of having a spirit of fear, meaning I was being paranoid about nothing. The person I was speaking to wasn’t on the same channel as me. Then later I found out I was right. It truly was something or SOMEONE that I needed to stop, drop, avoid or take spiritual authority over.

30 years ago when I was an atheist, I frequented a Burger King by my apartment. I kept telling people there was something off about the guy at the drive-thru window. One late night, as I handed him my money, I locked eyes with him and we both jumped! I some how knew he was evil, and he knew he was busted!

2 days later, on a local news channel, they showed him being arrested at his job for murdering his girlfriend and disposing of her body several months earlier. God was even showing me back then what was up.

Fast forward 5 years ago, I was the last person to leave work and was locking up when a man walked into the building with his 5-year-old daughter looking for a catalog of our products. He told me he was in the area and wanted to add some of our products to his very successful internet store. I got creeped out even though he was with his daughter and told him to come back in the morning.

I told some friends later that I felt like he was lying and they were like Jeanne! He came in with a kid! Yes, and Ted Bundy was an attractive man with a fake cast on his arm. Not everything is as it appears to be.

Several days later, he was on the local news as the police were looking for him. He was from New York and was running some local scam listing and selling products from high-end manufacturers that he never shipped.

God has given us our emotions for a reason. Sometimes the fear or “heightened awareness” you feel is truly from God and warranted, even if other people don’t agree with you.

Or the fear is a warning.
Or a time for discernment.
Or maybe it’s false and trying to stop you from what God has planned for you.

But…FEAR is always a reason to stop, discern, and take action. Even if that action is to send the false fear away.

Ask God for discernment and what YOU should do next. Just because another person doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean God isn’t speaking directly to YOU about the situation.

Several times in the last month I have MISSED it, because I let others talk me out of what I was picking up. MISSED IT!!!!!!

Don’t ignore your Spiritual Spidey Sense

Sometimes it isn’t FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.

Fear shame rant over peeps!

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama Bears!

Do You

A friend commented once, “Well, a person can always tell where they stand with you. If you didn’t like me it would be glaringly obvious!” I was surprised as I always thought I had a poker face. This was years ago and when I relayed the story to my therapist, he laughed.

My. Therapist. Laughed.

Dr.L, “Oh, sorry…you’re serious! No, I would say that is not true. You wear your heart on your sleeve and your annoyance definitely on your face!” “”I do?” I laughed today as I thought about this. We can all be so clueless about ourselves.

As I get older I have just made peace with myself. I will never be blonde or petite. Never be patient. Never be calm 24/7. Especially not in a drive-thru. What you see is what you get …..for right now. But I am totally ok with that. Are you? With you? Ha! I hope you are all nodding; Why, yes. Yes, I am.

You might be thinking “New man! New man in Christ, Jeanne. Stop speaking that old you back from the dead.”

Oh my, close that pie hole, beloved! (See right there I stopped myself from using more fun and colorful words!). If you knew me years ago, you would see that a lot of me has changed. For the better.

Part of moving on from the old man is not continuing to spank yourself because you aren’t 100% perfect. And may never be! Stop going back and reliving bad stories about yourself. Unless it’s a testimony to give God glory or a good laugh because you aren’t that person anymore. Be thankful, FB and Return Of The Karens on Youtube wasn’t invented when you were doing stupid #$%$.

Aggh see there I go again….

Drive Thru Wars

Around noon today, I pulled thru a Mcdonalds’ to get a bag of ice and an iced coffee. Two long lines and it was icy and slippery in a couple of spots. You all know how it goes. It’s a zipper merge after you place your order. The car in the inside lane is trying to merge in front of me and having difficulty. It is an icy patch and the car’s wheels are spinning. So I stop to give the person room to get out of the spin. The guy behind me honks!!! My window was open, and I yelled, “What is your problem????? The car is stuck! .” “The guy honks his horn again and yells” Move on! Drive around them! What is your problem???? “

Oh no, you didn’t! I freakin lost it! I just started screaming back at him! Was he HANGRY? Or just being a jerk? WTH. Don’t be honking at me when I am trying to avoid an accident. And you just disrupted my happy place, as I love my $1.25 bag of McDonalds’ ice. I continued to give the guy behind me a death glare in my side mirror as I proceeded to the first window. Then I thought….. Jesus’ love ain’t bubbling out of you right now! You are being a scary redhead, Jeanne! You need to buy that guy his lunch. Should I? I waited for God to confirm. Nope :).Ha! No soup for you!

I got up to the window, and the cashier looked a little afraid, as I am sure everyone inside heard us yelling. I just smiled, and she laughed. She probably thought don’t mess with this Peliroja Loca! (Crazy redhead). When I picked up my ice and drink at the next window, the next person flashed me a huge smile and chuckled.

The drive-thru wars. Must make the employee’s day when the customers are yelling at each other instead of complaining about the cold fries.

Ready To Pivot

I heard “MOVE OVER” and immediately turned my wheel in the direction of the curb just as a car in the left lane crossed over into mine. By 2 feet! The driver quickly corrected the error and got back into their lane. If I hadn’t immediately moved over when I heard the command, they would have hit me!

What did “MOVE OVER” sound like? Just like my own thoughts, only very matter-of-fact. So I reacted on autopilot. Kind of like, “Dunkin Donuts! Drive-thru for Cold Brew!”

I am still amazed that my vehicle moved over to the precise spot to avoid the accident. Like Jesus had taken over the wheel (OMG, don’t start singing that song in your head.)

One time Dan and I were driving back from Iowa. I saw a woman coming down a very long entrance ramp onto 35W. Her head was turned as she was yelling at someone in the backseat. God said to me “She doesn’t see you. Move over, she doesn’t see you.” So I relayed this to Dan and he got upset. “We have the right of way. Relax! I know how to drive! ” I kept one eye on her car and continued to plead with him to move over, but, he wouldn’t budge. He told me I was being paranoid because I had been in a serious car accident. As the woman came off the ramp, Dan had to swerve into the left lane and yelled, “She almost hit us! She didn’t see us!”

“I tried to tell you, Dan! I heard Him, but apparently, you didn’t”. Isn’t that just how life is? God may be warning you of something and your family thinks you’re nuts. Paranoid. Early dementia.

God may also be calling you to stop, move over or go in a new direction. Suddenly you are selfish. Or controlling. Or off your meds. It’s hard when others can’t see or agree with the road He has you on. Especially if they are not called to ride along or are fearful they will be left behind.

Allow God to Uber this wild ride you are called to for 2023. Give others the grace to take their own Uber. 2023 is going to be an interesting year. Eye-opening. Life changing.

Get ready to pivot kids.

Karen Works Here

Is it a full moon? This weekend I heard some noises outside and opened my blinds, and my drunk neighbor with some mental health issues started SCREAMING and flailing her arms at me. WTH

This morning I stopped at Mcdonalds’ to get a sausage McMuffin WITH egg. I opened it and realized it was just a sausage McMuffin. No biggie. I started to eat it anyway…. Nope. I rarely buy these, and if my feet are going to swell from the MSG, I want the full preservative experience. I swung thru again and asked them nicely to exchange it. “Sure, come on up to the second window.” As the window slid open, an employee started screaming at her coworker, who ran the window, and me. ( Isn’t the customer usually the Karen? Ha!)

“ She didn’t pay for an egg!!! It’s another $2 for an egg!!!”
“Yes, she did. She just got the wrong item.”
“No, she didn’t!!! That is not what she asked for! She wants an egg it’s $2 more!!!!
“Here is her receipt; she paid for the egg.”

I just calmly sat back and watched as the older woman continued to manifest. She grabbed the receipt, saw that I was right, and stomped off to get a muffin with an egg. She stopped, looked directly at me, and slammed the muffin into a bag. Then she crumbled up the receipt and slam dunked that in, too, and then stomped off, still yelling. Her coworker handed me the bag, and we both just looked at her like…Yikes! WTH. I paused for a moment and wanted to lash back. Nope. I’m late for church and didn’t want to be featured in the next Drive-Thru Karen reel. 🙂

I am starting to not take these things personally anymore. This isn’t just people having a bad day. It’s a demonic manifestation. When people act like this when it isn’t warranted, it’s demonic. Take authority. Fight it on a spiritual level.

Or maybe it’s Schumann Resonance?

Starbucks

It’s half priced cold brew at Starbucks today. Hate or love Starbucks I wasn’t going to miss out on a cheap brew! 

I ordered at the screen and reminded them it’s half priced Tuesday. ”Great! Yes we know! Pull ahead.” “Do I have to remind you at the window?” “Nope, come on up.”

So of course you know what happens. I drive back thru and ask them to credit me back on my app. I was super nice about it because my days of drive thru iced coffee blunder meltdowns are long gone.

A manager helped the young employee to credit me back as I smiled and patiently waited. This girl just stood back from the window and looked terrified. I think she was expecting me to turn into a Karen, start screaming and toss my drink at her. Too many Karen videos circulating lately of food fights at fast food pick up windows.

I’m too old to throw stuff or start screaming at strangers. Especially before my morning coffee kicks in 🙂

Be kind at the drive-thru!

Remember To Ripple

A friend “Rita” once read a story on my blog about me giving a stranger a word from God in public. “What do you think they said later?”

“To God? Themselves? Or…”

“No, to like a friend or family member. Hell, I get excited when the person in front of me at Caribou buys my coffee. I tell everyone! I mean, don’t you ever wonder?”

“Hmmm, sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall. Not to pat me on the back, because I nailed it, but wondering if it affected their belief in God’s goodness. That He really understands them. Or that He sees better plans for them than they do for themselves. Most of the time, I don’t ever run into them again.”

I recently recalled that conversation after I ran into a server, “Peg,” that I had given a word to last month. I was at lunch with a large group when I looked up to see Peg helping our server bring our meals to the table. Peg gave me a huge smile, said hello, and then squeezed my shoulder and whispered, “Thank you!.” A friend who had been with me when I gave Peg a word remarked, “Oh! She remembered you. Well, you are kind of a hard person to forget.” I laughed “She didn’t really remember me; she remembered God’s word for her.”

That made my day. I want people to remember God and how it made them feel. We all travel an unsteady and unpredictable road at times. It makes it easier when we don’t feel invisible to God. That the God of this universe cares about us as individuals.

Never doubt that your stepping out to give a word, laying hands for healing, or just being kind doesn’t make an impact. It causes a ripple effect, just like a free coffee at Caribou.

This week, make it a point to be God’s boots on the ground.

Don’t think you make a difference? We all heal this world, one person at a time.

Have a great week, Beloveds!

Say It With Me….

Warning old Starbucks drive thru rant……

” I’d like an extra large iced coffee with cream please.””

“Oh you mean our Trenta! Trenn- Taahhh! That size is called a Trent-TAH”

“Ok. Whatever your largest size is called”

“That would be a Trenta! Trenn-Tahhh!!”

“Ok” ( I’m thinking tick-tock lady, tick tock)

“Hold on a moment please…..

Sorry, I’m back…..could you please repeat your order? You want a Venti Iced coffee with cream?”

“No, I want an extra large iced coffee with cream.”

“That would be our Tren-Tah!!”

I shake my head and pull forward. Nope lady, too early for a sing along. Besides, I am not going to say it. You are not going to force me to use your coffee jargon to get my coffee. You know what an extra large drink size is 🙂 AND if I ever have to say TREN-TAH to get one, you are taking a dollar off, your high priced coffee, for making me sound really stupid. Like going to the Renaissance Fair and being heckled because you won’t shout Huzzah! Never going to do it. Beat me with a turkey leg, but I will never say it.

I am annoyed , but I turn up the corners of my mouth to fake a smile and hand my card to the attendant. She smiles, swipes my card, and hands me my drink:

“Here is your extra large iced coffee with cream. Have a nice day.”

Me 1 Starbucks 0

Oh yeah. I’m keeping score 🙂

**** 2022 my coffee addiction has now forced me to say Tren-Tah several times a week.

Holy Grounds

It’s been a rough couple of days still waiting for a call back on my CT scan. Fighting fear. Up late and sleeping late. I drove to a Starbucks to get a Trenta Cold Brew. Love or hate Starbucks, their Cold Brew makes me extremely happy.

As I went through the very long drive-thru, I called my friend Jim to talk about being fearful and how I was tired of medical issues. That lately, regardless of speaking to my mountain, I can’t seem to hear God nor hold on to peace for very long. That this is all triggering trauma for me. Not only from memories of Dan’s health fight but also my own recent “adventures.”

I told Jim I was surprised I even had any fear. Looking back, God has been faithful and had my back even when I didn’t deserve it. Shouldn’t I be trusting and at peace 24/7? Terrible feeling like a hypocrite when you minister to others about God’s goodness.

As I rambled on about trust, no trust, and how I shouldn’t be spending retirement money on coffee, I suddenly became annoyed at the car in front of me. It was apparent they had forgotten they were in a “moving” line, and in my head, I was yelling, “Pull up! Pull up!”

I continued to complain to Jim as I watched this vehicle finally reach the takeout window. I saw the “bucker,” as I call their employees, start to hand them out my Cold Brew but then pull it back. “WTH? Don’t be handing out my drink to those slowpoke strangers!”

Now I am really annoyed. When I finally reached the window, the bucker said, “The car in front of you bought your drink.” WHAT? I’m still talking to Jim and can’t hear her. “They paid for your drink!” I tell Jim, and he laughs, “God’s trying to tell you everything will be okay .”I smiled. He’s got this! God knows His girl loves Starbucks and Tulips. Free Starbucks! Maybe when I get home, my Tulips will have opened. It had been over a week, and they were still hiding.

Later that night, I looked over at my tulips, and they had literally bloomed while I was out that day. Then the memory of the free drink hit me like a sack of Holy Spirit bricks. I broke down and just started sobbing because I could feel His heart for me. I couldn’t settle down to actually hear Him say “no worries,” so He had to find another way to get my attention.

Then today, He prompted me to turn to K-LOVE radio in my car instead of making calls like I usually do. I can’t even tell you the last time I listened to any music in my vehicle. God spoke directly to me thru every song. He sang sweet reminders to me of trust, provision, and His goodness. A perfect playlist He had created just for me.

Has He ever communicated to you in a fashion you didn’t expect? When you just couldn’t hear Him in a way you are familiar with? Comfortable with? Even when we aren’t seeking Him, He tries to get our attention. His words may just be delivered in a way you’d never expect.

I don’t have all the answers, but He does, and I feel at peace.