God Taking Care, Part 1

Over the last couple of months, I’ve started keeping a journal of the moments where God shows up in my life.  I’ve heard these Kairos Moments, as they are called, happen up to 20 times a day.  I can’t imagine!  I’m thankful for a handful of times per month.  And it has become something I crave more and more.  I can’t get enough!And I start to wonder:  how many of these moments am I missing?  I tend to be pretty self-centered.  Always thinking of myself and my own needs.  My own problems.  Me, me, me.  Furthermore, I feel busy.  Always rushing from one thing to the next.  Trying to get through my to-do’s before the sun goes down.  Sound familiar to anyone??I think that is why Friday was so special to me.  I didn’t allow my to-do list and my plans for the day completely paralyze me from seizing an opportunity to see God at work.What appeared initially as two people on my morning run needing directions turned into so much more.  Ruth is a house-cleaner and was on her way to clean a client’s home when she started to feel symptoms of vertigo.  (She had been diagnosed a couple of weeks earlier by a physician and was taking medication for the symptoms.)  She was able to pull her car over and flag down a man to help her.  Her vision was impaired by the vertigo and she needed help retrieving a number from her phone so she could call a friend for help.  The man was unable to figure out how to use the phone.  Enter yours truly, phone detective extraordinaire!  After helping Ruth find the correct number, she left her friend a message.  I started to realize my run had come to an end.  And that God was asking me to stop thinking about myself, my exercise plans, my morning to-do’s…and do whatever it is He asked.It brings tears to my eyes as I think about this.  Because in the past, I think I would have been annoyed to miss out on my run.  And miss out on my morning plans which included finishing a paver patio.  (And for anyone that has taken on such a project, no need to explain what a time-consuming, life-sucking, BIG ordeal this is!)Could it be that my heart may be changing a bit?I offered to drive Ruth back to her home, about 15 miles away.  She agreed.  And as I stepped into her driver’s seat, I heard God say:  “Fill up her car with gas.”  And to that, and to my astonishment (because I am great at ignoring), I said “ok”.I drove her, in her car, to my house first.  I needed Jason to follow me to her home so I could return home on my own.As we drove along, I told her I wanted to fill up her tank.  She said it wasn’t necessary, but didn’t protest.  It was sweet.  Her humility.  Her willingness to allow me to help her.  I admired this.We were in the middle of a discussion about Narcotics Anonymous when we pulled into the station.  I had noticed it written on her key chain and asked her about it.  She told me she was about one year into her recovery.  An addiction from prescription pain medication.  She had five years sobriety prior to this, but relapsed after a painful break-up.As I filled up her tank, she called her sponsor to let her know she was on her way home. When she got off the phone, she said that her sponsor had asked her to be aware of what was going on, and how this coincided with the step she was working through.It’s step 3:  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.Ruth told me this was God taking care of her.  And with tears in my eyes, I told her that this was God taking care of me, too.  And He wasn’t done yet.PS.  I like short posts, not long.  This one is long enough and who has time for the long posts, anyways?  So I'll post part 2 tomorrow!