Today, we went shopping again. As usual, I wanted a store with an electric shopping scooter. We wanted family time and so we set out to our normal place. On a whim, or so I thought, I asked my wife if we could go to another store very far out of our way. I thought I just wanted a change of pace. Little did I know that God was at work!
We had our family time, which consisted of a slice of pepperoni and little individual ice creams for the kids. Of course, with my self-imposed special diet, I did not get to indulge. But that's okay, I SO enjoyed sitting with my kids and watching them eat. Time was up too soon, as we thought we needed rush home for two appointments (which later got canceled).
On the way out, unbeknownst to us, God performed a miracle of perfectly orchestrated timing. Since I was in an electric scooter, a number of the helpful checkers wanted to accompany us out. First, there was a young blonde, then another young brunette. Suddenly, an older man who was obviously a manager, intervened and redirected yet a third girl to come and help us out. I overheard the manager saying that there were specific courtesy clerks trained to help patrons to their car. I thought to myself, what's the big deal anyway?
The man summoned this third girl, we'll call Karen, to assist us. As she walked us out, we began small talk. She asked me how I was doing, and I said considering the circumstances, exceptionally well. I explained to her that I had a stroke about two months ago. She mentioned to me, almost as a side note, that her mother had also experienced a stroke about a month ago. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we had talked about family, her boyfriend, and of course, her mother. We wound up praying together right there in the parking lot!
Mere coincidence? Serendipity? The Force of Star Wars? Call it what you like if it helps you sleep at night, but I know that the real name of this "mystical force" is spelled J-E-S-U-S.
What started as a family outing became a divinely appointed time of ministry. What can I say except God is real and he loves His children so perfectly. My prayer for all of us is that we know and experience the exquisite love and care of God for ourselves; that we each grow closer to Him everyday, and that we learn to surrender to His love.
P.S., Just off the top of my head, we counted at least 15 individual, unrelated, highly unusual events that had to take place in the last 2 days in order for us to talk to "Karen," at that precise moment. God's hand is at work!