Shortsightedness. A condition I think most humans suffer from. We just cannot see the big picture. We cannot see around the corners and past the moment into the realm of what God might be up to. Then, when we are shown it all in the sweeping tapestry that God is weaving, we suddenly see how each thread is making something beautiful and intricate and connected.

So on Tuesday I went to Inshuti Home for the Disabled to visit. We stayed longer than I had planned and we fed the residents lunch. But it was good. Just not part of my plan. Because we were there through lunch, we were able to give the sister in charge a ride into town. We usually take her to the first major area or a little past and drop her off so she continues to her final destination. Today she wanted to go into town. I did not realize this until we were into the drive. Each time I thought we were in the area we needed to go yet a little further. I said in my mind and heart, God, I am going to take her as far as she needs to go. It is just some gas and a little of my time and I can give that up. Shortsighted. Thinking I was asked to drive her to be a servant. To provide her some convenience. To learn to be more flexible here. It's all about me.

Later in the evening Kirabo gets a call from her saying I needed to tell you what happened today. She said, "Because you took me all the way to where I needed to go in the car, I was able to save time and return back to the home earlier than I had thought I would. When I arrived one of our residents was very sick (maybe a seizure or something like this) and I was able to get them to the hospital. The doctor told us if we had not gotten her there within the hour she would have died. We are here to spend the night with her but we wanted you to know and to thank you."

And I am brought to my knees when I hear this and think about it the past days! Why do I always think an extraordinary God has such a limited purpose behind what He asks me to do? Or that what he asks is always about me? How self-absorbed I can be to always think I am the center of the matter at hand! I did not give a sister a ride that was out of my way and cost me time and gas. I participated in a planned intervention by the God of the universe to save the life of one His little weak ones. It was not about me, never about me. Every life we intersect with means we are creating this tapestry of connected threads by the creator of the universe. He can work without us and yet He chooses to partner with us. How humbling that is! I praise God she is alive. I praise Him that even in my stupidity to think the gift was the sacrifice of time and gas, He allowed it to be used in such a miraculous way.

So, the next time you get stuck in traffic or see someone needing a hand at the grocery store or whatever the thing is that you cannot see past the meaning of it except it is an inconvenience, realize that God may be using you to make the next beautiful addition to the tapestry. Connect to someone today. Partner with God in the mundane with a smile. He may be up to something you never imagined!

Ephesians 3:20  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us . . .       Amen!