Has something ever happened to you and then you realized that had to be a God prompt?
On Friday, I decided to work from home because I knew once I was done working, I could get started on some house chores. One of my goals was to organize a particular room.
Once I was done organizing, I realized I had something I thought my neighbor would appreciate. I was still busy and had more to accomplish, so I figured I’d just put the items over her fence.
As I’m not that tall, my attempt ended up being more of a toss, which ended up causing the items to spill, and the wind was not helping my cause. I knew the right thing was to go to her front door and tell her what I had attempted to do, but what happened in reality.
As I rang her front bell and she opened the door, I took one look at her and asked how she was doing – her face was red and a little blotchy.
It turns out, that day, was the day her husband first had the massive stroke a year ago and she was grieving afresh. I hugged her to offer her some comfort and as I explained why I was there, I knew that it had very little to do with the mini mess I had made in her backyard.
That day, I was invited into her home. This was only the second time in 7 years, and the first time being last year when I went to offer her my condolences after his passing. We stood there and talked, and cried and she shared of her love, him, and how they had grown up together and spent their life together.
It was an opportunity to learn more about him, her one love over her whole life and allow her to remember him, and shed some tears as I told her it was ok to grieve and that she didn’t need to rush through the grieving process, reminding her that everyone was entitled to grieve as they saw fit.
The interaction delayed my planned goals for that day, but, God’s plan was infinitely better.
Please pray for her as tomorrow (Monday) will be the one year anniversary of his passing and I know it will be a difficult day for her and her family.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for not allowing things as we would plan them but making things work out better than we can expect. Thank you for the unexpected moment to be a blessing to my neighbor as they’ve been a blessing to me all these years. Would you please be with their family as they continue to mourn their loss? Be with all those who are hurting at the loss of a loved one.
Blog post for a tribute to my neighbor from a year ago: