Surprised by God... Again

Surprised by God... Again

When we were looking for a new place to live, a parishioner, (I will call her Carol), found out about it and offered us her condo. She said she only needed enough money to pay the expenses and she would rent us the place for a low figure! I wondered if this was an answer to my prayers to find a new home.

However, after talking to my hubby, we realized that we had to refuse this awesome gift. It was a little too far from work and we would have to buy a new car. It was on the 2nd floor and both of us have problems with climbing stairs. And it was also too small for us.

Darn.

I actually felt a little guilty. It seemed like God had offered me a gift and I was refusing it! Carol was understanding and told me she would still like to help someone and if I knew of anyone who needed a place, I should let her know.

About a week later I was talking to “Sally.” Sally was telling me about saving money to get her own place. She wanted to rent a condo, 2 bedrooms, 2nd floor. She believed it would take her several months to a year to save the money she needed, but she had a great attitude about it. She knew it would all work out if it was God’s will.

I have no idea why, but throughout that whole conversation, I never once thought of Carol’s condo. Not once. Maybe it just was not the right moment.

Anyway, the next day, I was at work, in the middle of typing something on the computer, when all of a sudden, the names Sally and Carol kept popping into my head.

Sally … Carol … Sally … Carol …

I knew immediately what it meant. The condo!

After calling Carol to make sure the condo was still available, I called Sally right away, but she was at work. I left a message on her phone and then I emailed her in case she didn’t get the message.

Over the next couple of days, I heard nothing. And it was driving me crazy. Then I read this quote from Blessed Pope John Paul II -

“The Lord invites us to put out into the deep with trust in his word.”

God had given me a message and I had put out in the deep. I decided to just calm down and let it go. I had done what God had asked me to do.

It was then that I realized that the condo had never been meant for us at all. I had been told about it so I could pass it on. I was the messenger.

The next day I went to Mass and I heard that Sally was looking for me. I turned around to look for her and there she was.

“Thank you for listening to the Lord,” she told me. “I have a new home!”

We hugged. We laughed. We cried. We both knew God had touched our lives in a very special way. We were utterly amazed.

And then Sally reminded me of what she had said to me the other day, when she talked about working toward getting her own place -

“God is not going to just call me up and say ‘Here’s your condo!’”

Oh yeah? Are you sure?

Just when we think we have God figured out, we can be sure we don’t.

Copyright 2013 Colleen Spiro