A God Moment

For the last couple of years, I have joked with my friends, that I can’t make plans without something supernaturally crazy happening, forcing me to cancel my plans. It is almost scary when I think about it, the times I am dressed and ready to go out, and then I get the call, a loved one is headed to the hospital, a friend has passed away or it could be less serious but still demands my immediate attention, like my kids basketball practice got changed at the last minute, and my husband has to work, so I have to take them, or my car won’t start. It nevers fails though, I put the plan on the calendar, and then boom, something beyond my control happens, and I make the dreaded call or send the unwelcome text, “sorry I can’t make it”. The most recent supernatural occurrence has left me in tears. Not because of what I missed, but of what I would have missed, had I not been obedient to the voice of the Lord.

I had made plans, with an old friend, to go see an old friend, that is very ill and is house bound. I haven’t seen this friend in a very long time and every time I have the thought, I’d like to go see her, something pops up, that demands my time and my attention and I have to put the thought on the back burner. Well, I think the thought was about to catch fire, when my other friend, suggested we go see her the next day. I was all for it. There wasn’t anything on my calendar, a phenomenon, for me, and so I put it down. Well, low and behold, that evening, about 10 minutes before I was to hop in my car, and drive to my beloved friend’s house, my dad called. My mom was headed to the ER, with her father, my 85 year old grandfather, because he had blood so thick in his urine, the toilet water looked black. My dad was freaking out, my mom was trying not to freak out, and I was feeling, once again defeated. I know...I know...my initial concern should have been for my poor grandpa, but I had a flesh moment, and was bummed that I was going to have to make that dreaded call and once again say, “I can’t make it”. My friend understood,  and she encouraged me to be with my family, and so with her blessing, I hopped in my car, and headed to the hospital.

My grandfather is a Navy Vet so therefore he goes to the Veteran’s Hospital for all of his medical needs. I pulled in, twenty minutes later, found a parking spot, and I parked. I called my mom to tell her I was there, but it might be another 20 minute walk, before I made it inside. As I was finally approaching the front door, my eye was caught, by an elderly man standing at the back of his minivan, his head under the hatch, and he seemed to be in trouble. I kept walking, in a hurry as usual to complete the task at hand. The Lord prompted me, to go back, and ask him if I can help. I hesitated, but the prompting was so strong, I could not resist. I turned around and went back. I asked the man if I could help him and the look of shock on his face was humbling. He responded “yes, please, I can’t close my trunk, it got away from me and my shoulder won’t let me reach up that high.” A simple task for me, but a task that had kept this man standing under his hatch for who knows how long and struggling, to close it, made me feel guilty for hesitating at the Lord’s first prompting.  I reached up and closed it. As I was about to walk away I noticed his walker rolling away from him, so, I ran after it, and brought it back to him. Then he dropped something on the ground and he was struggling to bend over to pick it up. I quickly bent over, grabbed the item, put it in his walker basket and asked if I could walk him in. He thanked me over and over and over again. I started to feel a little embarrassed by the amount of times he thanked me, but the smile on his face made my night.

I left my new friend to go sit with my mother and grandfather and begin what would be our four hour wait in the ER. My new friend had finished his check in process and came walking through the extremely crowded waiting room. I offered him my seat, but he found one, near the back and headed towards it, but not before making a loud announcement to my mother, what an amazing daughter she had. He narrated the entire encounter from the parking lot and then proceeded to thank me again. I just smiled and nodded and said you are welcome. I really didn’t know what to say or how to respond. This simple task, that I do every day, sometimes multiple times a day, closing and opening the hatch to my SUV, picking things up off of the ground, and putting them away, meant more to this man, than I could possibly know. I thought about how much I take for granted and that I need to be more grateful for my abilities. I also needed to be more observant to the needs of those around me. As I sat there waiting for my grandfather to be seen by the doctor, my eyes kept wandering to my new friend. He was there all alone, he didn’t have anyone to talk to, yet he had a smile on his face, that lit up the room. I got up to use the restroom, it was near his seat, and he reached out to touch my arm and thank me again. This was the umpteenth time he had thanked me, but this time, he said, “you have such a giving spirit, are you a teacher?”. I told him, I was a pastor, and he almost jumped out of his seat. He said, “I knew it, I knew there was something about you.” He went on again about the fact that no one had offered to help him until I came along. He knew I must have been a Christian. He told me his name was James and he was a deacon at his church. He told me stories of his activities from the years gone by and how much he loved serving the Lord.

I knew our paths had not crossed for no reason. I knew there was a reason the Lord prompted me to go back and offer my help. It wasn’t over yet. As I was sitting back in my seat, waiting some more, God told me to give James, my new friend, one of my cards. Now wait a second Lord, I helped this man out, I’ll even go lay hands on him and pray, but you want me to give him my personal information. Whoa..whoa...whoa...wait a minute….I felt ashamed for feeling this way, but I have really started to put my guard up lately, because I have had some encounters, that were not as blessed as this one. I did not mean to be disobedient, I knew the Lord was making a connection, but I was nervous. God prompted me again, I ignored it. Finally, our four hour wait was coming to an end, and I was hungry. I made my way over to the vending machines, which were right next to James, and I gave him a hug, that I thought was goodbye. James, then reached into his pocket, and handed me one of his deacon cards. I laughed out loud, in my spirit, said okay God, and reached into my purse, and found one, just one, business card leftover from a conference I had done, and I handed it to him. It had my picture on it, and he smiled bigger than he had all night. He thanked me profusely and welcomed another hug.

My plan is to send him a Christmas card, take him some homemade cookies, and check in on him from time to time. I learned, during our visit, that he lost his wife four years ago and his son is in a nursing home. He has a church family but I know, from experience, it is good to have connections outside of the church as well. James is a blessing, and I know he thinks, I helped him out that day, but the truth is, he helped me. He was the answer to a recent prayer I had been praying.

I had been asking the Lord, to use me, to be a giver. In my mind, I thought giving, was about money, and I was praying for a monetary blessing, so I could give a blessing in return. However, God always knows what is best, and the way he answered my prayer, was so much more, than just handing someone some money. Giving the gift of yourself, is the greatest way to give. After all, that is the example, Jesus, set for us on the cross. Thank you God, and thank you James. I am blessed and I am so thankful, the Lord interrupted my plans, once again, to teach me, to guide me and to help me understand, a little bit more, about what exactly was accomplished on the cross, God Bless!