Difficult Seasons

Last Monday as I walked into the hospital from the garage, my friend Lacy was standing at one of the parking pay stations, obviously having trouble with the machine.  I stopped and watched from a distance for a few minutes, really just wanting to say hello before heading on down to start chaplaincy rounds.

Turns out his card wouldn’t work for whatever reason.  He had decided to head back to an ATM to get some cash, but instead I was able to loan him the needed money, and after a brief conversation he was able to get on his way.

Now just exactly what do you think the odds are that:

1. I would enter the hospital just as Lacy, one of thousands of patients coming and going from the hospital that day was leaving.
2. That I would notice him standing there, behind a mask, having trouble with the unfriendly machine?  (Okay, he is taller than average.)
3. That I would actually have $10 in my wallet to bail him out (that’s actually pretty rare of itself!).

You see, to add to the complexity, I was running late.  I had planned to be there earlier, and things just kept getting in the way.  And I was hurrying (for me) from the garage to get my list.  And Lacy had been having tests that morning, and testing schedules are notoriously fluid.

Anyway, my point is simply this.  The odds of my connecting with Lacy at just the right moment to be able to help him and to get to have a friendly conversation that blessed both of us are huge.

Yet, it happened.  Against the odds.

But I’m not at all surprised.  Things like this seem to happen all the time when I just show up with the hope that God will use me.  You see, He’s already been there, and everywhere, doing His thing.  And I get to enjoy seeing the results of His work.

Tags: chaplaincy, parking, providence

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 11:50 pm and is filed under Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.