Who knew self scan could be linked to my state of mind?

I was paying for a few grocery items at the (un-named) store this morning, and I chose to go through the "do it yourself" register... the "self scan" if you will. 
After I set my bag of onions on the scale, and looked up the item code... "Onions, white"... I saw that it came up as .94/lb rather than the posted .88/lb.
 
WHY did I look?!!  It was only three pounds of onions, so it is only .18 cents that I am talking about here.

I've done enough reading  {about how big giant stores will have many scanning "errors" that never get corrected, because they count on the fact that most people will not go to the hassle of bringing up the incorrectness when it's usually just a few cents} that, even if I tried to just ignore the "few cents" of overcharge, I knew I wouldn't. 
When a company does billions of dollars worth of business, and millions of people are paying just a few cents more than they are supposed to... well then... it needs to be addressed!

So I said to the Self Scan  Monitor Woman, "these onions are supposed to be .88/lb and it's coming up .94/lb."  
I had no intention of getting my 18 cents back, it just felt good to tell her... so that she knew that I KNEW.
But she smilingly came right over to my register with her badge in hand.

Which makes me think of the self-scan register at the local grocery store in the small town where my son & his family live... if you run into a snag there, the computer voice, which is about 50 times louder than it needs to be says "STAND BY!!! HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!!"
...this never fails to reduce me to giggles, and I always feel like standing at attention with a hopeful look on my face until someone rescues me!

Anyway, over she came and began to furiously touch all kinds of screen, describing to me exactly what she was doing, while I stood {helplessly} by.
"How much did it scan?"
".94"
"What is it supposed to be?"
".88"
...a few more touches, a few more times of clearing the screen, and it was obvious that what she was doing was not going to work. So she exasperatedly just typed in ONION and then asked me "how much is 3 times .88?"
Since I don't have the lightening fast calculating in my head speed that my husband does, my answer of $2.64 was not fast enough to suit her. "How much was the total scanned?" THAT I did not have to figure... but my answer of "$2.82" was still not quick enough for her.
She punched in, after ONIONS... $2.00... and that's what I paid for my produce.

"THERE!" she said, "you saved 82 cents... does that make you happy"??

"YES!! YES it does make me HAPPY!!!!"

Actually, I was quite content before all of this started too... and I only "saved" 64 cents.
But who's counting?

throwing the baby out with the bathwater?

I used to watch a certain pastor on TV.  The words he preached always seemed to "hit the mark". The few times that I tuned in, he seemed to be talking about something that I was struggling with.  The preaching was so good to me that I thought I would buy a book that this pastor wrote.
So off to the bookstore I went, found the book and brought it home.  Later, as I picked the book up to begin reading... I noticed the cover.  Had I not noticed this when I bought the book? 
There was nothing on the cover except the {short} title and a huge picture of the pastor.  It kind of bugged me, but I didnt' dwell on it.
I mentioned this fact, about the cover photo, to a friend of mine who also reads this pastors material.  I asked him if it wasn't a bit disconcerting that this guys mug was all over the cover of the book.  His response was "well, it is kind of strange, but he has good things to say so I don't pay much attention to it"
Later I began subscribing to an email feed from this pastors ministry, because it's true... he does have good things to say.  
But this morning I just unsubscribed.  At the top of every email, there is a HUGE header, and it's shot of the pastor, who happens to be quite good looking, lounging in a comfy chair with what I deem to be a "come hither" smirk on his face.
I can't get past it!  Something about how this guy has his face all over his ministry bugs the heck out of me.  It takes away from any wise words he has to share!  The church he leads is HUGE with thousands of members.  So it would appear that God has blessed his ministry.  So why does the visual focus always seem to be on this pastor?
I realize, obviously, that he can't put a picture of God on his books or his blogs, but does it have to be him?
I started thinking about several other "big time" pastors that I have read, or listened to.  A few of them seem to follow this same bent...  the visible focus, the "marketing strategy" of their ministry is themselves.
These people could be completely obedient servants of Christ, I don't know them personally, I don't know their hearts.  They preach and teach what I would deem to be the truth of Gods word and how to live a Godly life... but there just seems to be a bit too much of themselves involved.

So I've decided to stop reading and listening to what this guy has to say.  Am I throwing the baby out with the bathwater?  Am I missing important truths that would benefit my spiritual journey? 
Maybe.
But I prefer to learn from ministries in which the focus is totally on Jesus.  The humility does not appear to be false.  The authors name is on the book or the blog, but the focus is not their face.  The focus is on what God has to say through them.  When I finish reading what they've said, or listening to what they've taught or preached, I feel closer to God, I see Jesus more.
I don't see them smiling at me from a comfy chair.

Yikes!

My daughter and I have been talking for awhile about a blog that we could share.  We would both be administrators and we would both make posts.  It sounds like great fun!!! 

Well now the rubber has hit the road.  She is going to set it up.  I just checked my "blogger dashboard" for this blog. 

{the blog I've renewed my committment to for more times than I can recall!}

I have 6, SIX!! drafts that are waiting to be posted.  
and I almost left the computer without posting this.  

:)