Forgiving Wal-mart, cont.

Can you stick with me for one more story in the Wal-mart saga? I think this will likely be the last of them.

Yesterday, I gave up -- at least for now -- on getting a copy of my friend Jerel's book Spirit Fighter from Wal-mart. But I made peace with the store after a surprisingly good customer service experience with them.

Up to yesterday, the count was four Wal-marts I've visited in the last few weeks to find Jerel's book. I had heard from a reliable source (Jerel himself) that one of the Wal-marts I had visited

Taken for granted or taken with gratitude

We've been having a conversation about Wal-mart and forgiveness the last few weeks, and I promise to come back to that topic when I have more to report.

But today, my thoughts are more occupied with the things I take for granted. My hands, for instance.

Yesterday while I was out running, I took a tumble on some loose gravel and ended up sliding along the asphalt for what seemed like an eternity -- probably because it happened in slow motion. I sat up and saw the palm of my right hand covered in blood, asphalt crumbs and dirt, and felt pain along the left side of my body (shoulder, hand, hip, lower leg and foot).

A very kind, concerned driver who saw me fall stopped to make sure I was okay. I told her I

Forgiving Wal-mart

If you had asked me back in February when I started this blog whether Wal-mart would be a hot topic on my blog someday, I would have laughed. But love the big-box store or hate it, you haven't been shy about sharing your opinion.

To respond to Chris' request to see some of the email and Facebook responses to last week's post, I'm adding a sample here. I had meant to share the email I got from a close friend giving detailed advice to forgive Wal-mart. Her answer was the one that moved me the most. But not everyone encouraged breaking the ban. You'll see that there's a pretty sharp division:

• "Hey! Loved the blog. Loved the steadfastness of your walmart ban even more. Wow."
• "Just forgive Wal-mart already!" (straight from my mom's mouth when I visited her earlier this week)
• "Ha...nice blog post. A great reminder of why I never shop there."

Here's the email from my friend:

----------------------

"My advice would be to consider shopping at Walmart again as an act of forgiveness. You

A tale of three Wal-marts

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. ... Oh, right. That's been done already. Do you mind if I tell you about my day instead?

Thanks to those of you who commented on last week's post about jealousy. At the end of that post, I asked for advice about whether to break a 14+ year ban of Wal-mart to buy Jerel Law's new (first) book there. Wal-mart has exclusive rights to carry the book for 90 days, and I found out from Jerel's blog that it may be April of next year before the book is available elsewhere.

Several of you who emailed me or posted a comment said I should forgive Wal-mart and go buy the book. So today, I drove to Wal-mart to break my ban. I left empty-handed.

It felt odd to me to walk in to the store, but the greeters were there, and they smiled and said, "Hello." I smiled and said, "Hello" back. I got my bearings and found the small book section, consisting of one side of an aisle, and one set of shelves along the back of the store.

I was still excited about breaking the ban for a good cause and eagerly scanned the shelves

Defeating the green-eyed monster

I promised in last week's post to talk with you about jealousy today. But first, would you mind a quick update? Both twigs of the baby elm tree have already sprouted new leaves, and I'm hopeful the wire cage and the Irish Spring soap, along with the beginnings of some lovely fall weather, will all keep that little tree thriving.

Let's take a look at where that little tree is growing:

^ The little tree is growing right there ...
in the shadow of its much larger parent tree.

You really can't even see the little tree, can you? It's so small and easy to miss. If you get down to the tree's level, here's what you'll see:

The view looking up from the little tree

If trees had thoughts and hopes and dreams, can you imagine that little tree looking up at its parent tree all day, wishing to grow up to be just as strong and beautiful? Do you think it's a little