Promptings

The Slabaugh's of McBIC are celebrating the birth of their first child this week.

And this week the Lanny Millette family of Camp Hebron is mourning the loss of their son Andrew, a young man of God, serving people in every way, engaged to be married.

The contrast is striking. We know the Slabuagh's well. Kristen lived with us for a summer while she worked at Hershey Medical Center. We loved having her here and Isaac, a 3 year old at the time, had a special bond with Kristen. She had a red blanket that he would request to snuggle under. Ben then lived here several months later when Kristen was back at school. Eden was a newborn and not a good sleeper. That didn't work so well for Ben. He got good use out of a pair of earplugs. How fitting that Kristen was due around Isaac's birthday. We prayed for that baby to come out on Isaac's birthday. It didn't happen. My theory was that it must be a girl and she most certainly didn't want to have to worry about being named for Isaac so she decided to wait. No problem. God's timing is perfect. And we were happy to see Ben beaming in one of the post-delivery photos, even while holding a very unhappy baby. He didn't look like that when Eden cried; it was more like a grimace.

On the other side is the Millette family. We don't know them as well. There's the Camp Hebron connection as our family has had several different roles there in the past five years. There's also the Line Lexington connection as several family members attend LLMC, including Andrew's grandparents. But as we followed their story on Facebook and several other writings, it is clear that out of their heartache, they, too, believe that God's timing is perfect. I believe it was Andrew's father who was able to write, "You give and take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord," just days after Andrew's sudden death.

I was also reminded of God's perfect timing in a conversation I had with someone I barely know. I've only met her a few times previously but we were in a meeting together this week. As soon as she arrived for the meeting, and at various times throughout, she shared bits and pieces about her month. It has been difficult in many ways and she told me that she was finding it terribly hard to function. She was trying to keep herself busy so she could block out how her heart was really feeling. Several times throughout the meeting I felt prompted to ask her if I could pray for her. Each time I waited too long and didn't do it. Finally, as she was leaving, I couldn't pass off the feeling anymore. As soon as I asked the question, I could see her body language change; it was if burdens just fell off and she was already lighter. I prayed and she was so grateful. She even called back later to say "thank you" again.

I don't share this to say, "Look at me, look what I did." In fact, more often than not, I've let the opportunity come and go, even with the same amount of prompting from the Holy Spirit. This is my own reminder to take advantage of those opportunities to share Christ's love and light. That's why we're here. What am I waiting for? God's timing is perfect.