God is in Control; Trust Him

 

My friend died this Monday morning.

After dinner last night, I had read the paper, played some games, and thought about recent events in my life, and then --- BOOM!  The thunder was sudden and rattled the windows of my house.  And I suddenly thought “I need to get to the chapel to say my night prayers.”

The drops began as I backed out of the garage, and were a deluge downpour seconds later.  I couldn’t make out cars on the subdivision streets through the rain.  Driving to the chapel, streetlights were difficult to see, and dark-colored cars in front of me almost invisible.  Huge puddles formed across the road in minutes; I drove slowly because I couldn’t see.  When I reached the church, I turned into the chapel parking area and had a thought about starting my night prayers in the car, when moments after I parked, the rain suddenly stopped.  I got out of the car and went into the chapel --- where the monstrance and host were exposed on the altar, with no one else there.  Jesus is NEVER to be left alone like that, and I’ve never seen it happen before, but there it was.  My prayers were sincere and lengthy last night, and as other people began to come and go, so did the rain outside, although never as intense as when I first drove to the chapel.  It was as if the skies did not want me to get there, where Jesus was alone, and did not want me to pray for my friends, who so needed prayer.

 

This morning, I woke early to drive to the 6:45A mass.  The church is usually opened by 6:15, but as I arrived at 6:20, all was dark in the church.  I prayed in my car for 10 minutes; nothing changed.  I thought about leaving (perhaps the mass was cancelled??), but I got out of the car with my Liturgy of the Hours prayer book and stood in front of the locked doors, reading my morning prayers.  It was about 6:38 when the lights went on and the doors were opened.  And I was reading in my morning prayers Psalm 31:

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice set me free
hear me and speedily rescue me.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me.

A couple of hours later I began my Meals on Wheels delivery route, which is usually 12-15 stops.  Yesterday from my garden I had picked about 75 large ripe tomatoes, so I bagged about 40 in 8 bags. When I saw the route this morning, it was only 10 stops, and then I found two of them not at home. So, in addition to food, this morning everyone got some of my tomatoes.  It was near the end of the route when one of the trailer dwellers took the food from my hand, saying “Thank you, thank you.  I really needed this.  And at the next stop, no one answered, so I turned around and gave that food to the man in need.

In that and all these events, I had seen a lot of God’s timing, but as I signed out of the food distribution point at the end of my route, intending next to go visit my friend in hospice, my phone rang.  The screen indicated it was my friend who I was going to visit.  I was surprised to see her call, because on Friday when I had seen her, the end seemed near.  Had she had a rebound?  And so, I answered the phone “Well, hello Diana.”  And the response was “This is Chris her son.  Mom died at 6:38 this morning.” We then talked some about this wonderful woman, and then he said: “You know, I am a pretty sound sleeper, but this morning I woke, wide awake at about 6:30.  I laid there for a bit and then got up to go to the bathroom, and before I got back to bed the phone rang from the hospice, telling me about mom.  I don’t believe in coincidences, especially like that.”  And I agreed.