"Mommy, which one is healthier?"

Monday, while in the checkout line of my grocery store, another shopper pulled up in line behind me with her buggy and I heard her say, "Look, there are some chips down there."

I turned slightly to realize she was talking to her daughter, who looked to be around 7 or 8. The girl said, "where?" I pointed them out to her and she bent over to pick up a bag. There was an assortment.

The little girl reached down to grab some Cheetos and then pulled back and asked "Mommy, which one is healthier?" I'm not sure, but I really do think the question caught the woman off guard, because she said, "well, they have Funyons, you like Funyons." In my head I'm having a mental conversation with the little girl...'walk away,' I say, 'decide you don't want them...you really don't need them.'

Well, the kid actually picks up a couple of the bags, turns them over and starts looking at the nutritional charts on the back. (All I could think about was the story Matilda ,I had just re-watched the movie of less than a week ago.) I jumped for joy inside and said "SCORE!" I mean, if the kid's mom didn't have enough energy to care about reading the nutritional panels, I really have to think it was Divine intervention that allowed the kid to recall having seen her mother (at some point) or another adult do this. Who knows, maybe her teachers are on the ball and guided them to this action during a lesson?

At any rate, I really don't believe that the girl knew what she was looking for or was reading when she compared the nutritional panels, but it was a start. The hope that had not been there when the woman first pulled in behind me, that had drained when she said "you like Funyons," rebounded in spades and I thought...maybe these kids can hear God.