Sunday, January 25, 2009

God Ordained Moments....

Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt a prompting and questioned whether it was of the Holy Spirit or not?

I remember a situation a couple of years ago in which an acquaintance was going through a separation and she was worried because she had no money for Christmas for her two kids. That year we had enough and the thought had crossed my mind to give her two hundred dollars. I stewed over it, thought about mentioning it to Joe, but was almost fearful-I had no reason to be fearful with Joe about this. In the End, I didn't act on it. When I did finally share with my husband what my thoughts had been (after that holiday season) he shared that he had had the same thoughts. So we both have regretted what had to be the Holy Spirit speaking to us that season. Still regretting it.

So as I sit here now typing this while my patients sleep, please know that I am in no way "tooting my horn" but I have to share what I did last night on the way into work because it was so cool!!




I was in the drive through of Chick-fil-A treating myself to one of those delicious lemonades. I knew I was going to need that sugar for energy at work tonight. I noticed the women in the van behind me was frantically looking for something after she had placed her order. She even got on her cell phone. As we inched forward I kept watching her dig around the seats. There is no way to exit this line once you are in and the though came to me.. "What if she cannot find her wallet?" Well you know what thought came next.... "Pay for her order". O dear. Here we go again. Do I? Don't I? Money has been tight but it's not right now.

So what do you think I did?

Well, I didn't do it completely right. I was so nervous, almost giddy inside. I asked the cashier how much the order was for the car behind me (here's where I did it wrong-I shouldn't have asked but just walked in faith but I had seen those advertised signs for their party trays). The cashier look at me strangely and I told what I had been observing and what I was thinking about doing. You should have seen her face. It broke into such a sweet smile. "$17.68". I handed her my debit card and said I will cover her order "just in case" (second error-I should have said, tell her it's a gift from God").

I wish I would have seen that women's expression. I wish I knew her story if there was one. She is probably a young mother, looked to be in her late 20's. I wish I knew if it was indeed a blessing. I noticed two kids meals on the receipt. Is she a single mom? Did she use it as a teachable moment? Will she pay it forward? I know it felt really good on my end.

Then I had to call me husband. Grief. He worries about our finances. Should I? Shouldn't I? Well of course I did! He was absolutely fine with it!

So here is the deal in sharing this my friends. I have been encouraging you in my previous post to look and accept the uncertainties we face in life. Now I want to encourage you this week to look for that moment in which you can make the most of a God-ordained opportunity (Eph. 5:15-17). I encourage you to act out in faith this week (and be blessed!!). And if you do so-please come back and share it.

His Servant~Pamela

13 comments:

much2ponder said...

That was pretty sweet and even though you didn't say it was a gift from God, I'm sure he used it to glorify himself. He is pretty amazing like that.

Thank you for sharing and I will pay extra close attention for ways that I may serve or pay in forward. Blessings to you my friend.

achildoftheking said...

Pamela... I will try my best to remember to come back and share.

I live my life this way. I always do something to help someone. It's become so much so I just do it and don't think about it. It's an unconscious thing I've created in me with God as my lead.

Thank you for sharing. You're such a blessing.

Hugz!

Laura said...

A perfectly wonderful challenge, Pamela! And bless you for listening. I'm going to listen for those little nudges this week...and hopefully forever! Thanks for the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

oh, those moments...I hope that I can just do it and not look back...but I do remember doing this one Christmas...for two people, one came directly from my pocket, the other a gift card from our petty cash at the office in which we had divided for Christmas...I really do wish the two people that I sent these things to that I could have seen thier faces or known what they thought when they received it.

God is Good...

Carol Van Atta, Princess Warrior said...

I so understand. I've missed divine opportunities too. I've also had the honor of following through and experiencing the glowing approval of my King. For me, money is VERY tight. Giving is a huge act of trust for me that God will indeed meet my needs. God bless you as you heed the words of the Spirit.

LisaShaw said...

Love this! What a blessing you were to her. It doesn't matter that you didn't get to tell her it was from the Lord believe me she will know.

We don't have to and often won't do it all perfectly but when our heart is to care, share and GIVE (which by God's grace I'm a giver), then God will always put opportunities before us to do so in His name and by His grace.

I'm unsure if I will think to return this week to tell you because it's sort of a natural thing for my life. I look for opportunities to give and I often don't talk about it but I appreciate your message because it gives us all encouragement and a reminder to look for those GOD ORDAINED MOMENTS! Love it!

Love you Pamela. You're a blessing.

Yolanda said...

I've been writing Pay It Forward, for several days, then I come here....God is speaking!

Love YOU

Beth Herring said...

I just love your post! and I love your blog! I plan on coming back here. You seem like a pretty amazing woman of God.

In Him,
Beth

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

You know I just love stuff like that! LOVE IT! I love to give; I grew up watching my father give, and I think that's where my hugeness of heart began. And while I am liberal with the wallet, it's the other areas in my life that need a little nudge. Things like my "time" and my willingness to do the "little things/behind the scene things" at church, etc. You get the picture.

I will work on those this week and maybe throw in a surprise Starbucks to the car behind me. So much fun to give.

peace~elaine

LynnSC said...

Oh Pamela...
The timing of this post is too much for me. I just had a prompting of some type... but I failed it. Being an X-ray tech... I only spend a small amount of time with each one of my patients. I just x-rayed a 91 year old man (very healthy) that had fallen down. He was such a sweet little man. He thanked me many times for my help... as I left him... I felt like I should have said something to him about Jesus. BUT I didn't. I didn't go back. I told God that if He wanted me to say something to open the door for me to have reason to go back into his room. So far nothing... except the pain in my heart that I might have missed a blessing. Not to mention what the man might miss because I chose to "put off" my prompting.

Oh Father... forgive me. I long to just be obedient to Him at all times. Why didn't I listen?? Why didn't I go back?? It may have just been for a little encouragement... or he may have been lost.... I won't know. Because I chose to not follow what I felt like was a prompting.

I am so thrilled that you did exactly what God led you to do. I have done things similar to that before in the drive-thru. But tonight.... I failed.

Blessings,
Lynn

Amy said...

That is such a wonderful story, Pamela. It's such a blessing to hear about, so I can't imagine the blessing that it must have been for that young woman to receive it.

You're a blessing to me, friend.
In Christ,
Amy:)

Unknown said...

Pamela, what a tangible example of the love that is in your heart. I'll make myself a note to come back and share what opportunity I take God up on :)

Miss you dearly! Was very gald to be able to hear your voice Friday. Hope all is well. Blessings and much lvoe to you abnd your family!

Unknown said...

Okay I'm back. Wanted to share something God placed on my heart to do. There is a family in our subdivision that recently received an eviction notice. There is a single mom and her three kids. Her middle son is friends with my girls.

Yesterday was their last night before moving. He stopped by to say goodbye to my girls. My husband let him come in and stay for a while and hang out with the girls (big deal for an overprotective dad). When it got dark he tried to go home but no one was there. So I told him to come back and stay until his mom was back. I decided that it was a good idea to let him eat with us as well. Our money is tight but I would not have been right to cook and not offer him dinner. And honestly, I wanted to do it.

We are continuing to pray for them and will assist as we can. This is not a child we liked that much before, but we realize now that we rushed to judgement. God has asked us to step outside ourselves and try to be a blessing to this family and others.

Pamela, thanks for the challenge and the reminder of what we are here for!