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While I am here… I wanted to post this story last week, but didn’t have the time. (I don’t now, but since I’m here…) 🙂

I usually take a break for lunch (which my wife dilligently prepares for us) around 1pm every day. Often it will end up being 1:15… or if a particularly busy day, it could be later. But this past Friday, I had finished up some things… and there was a rumbly in my tumbly… and didn’t want to start the next thing for fear of going way past 1:00… so, I decided it was time for lunch at 12:15. Usually, I would not make such a decision. There was a set of odd circumstances that led to that, and then even more odd was, if I ever do “leave” early… I usually find several things to do on the way out of my office. But today, I didn’t. I just left.

I walked downstairs and greeted my family. The greeting I received in return from my wife was, “Why are you down here now?” It was not the kindest greeting, but Jen prefers things to be as they “should” be. So, deviation from the norm (though completely expected from me) is much more difficult for her to handle than me, or perhaps our children.

I tried to think of how to explain why I was down there early, but really, there were several reasons (too long to explain) and at the same time, there were no reasons. So, after a brief pause, I replied, “Because I had to.”

The words even surprised me. 🙂 I think I followed that up by saying quickly, “That was a weird thing to say!” But not 5 seconds after I had said, “Because I had to,” there was a knock on our front door. I peeked around the corner to see who it was and it was a friend we have not seen in a while who stops by on occasion to spend time with “basic”, as he calls us. 🙂 From observation, it seems like he’s on the lonely side, so we’re happy to share a meal with him or just hang out for a while.

So, I said to Jen, “And maybe this is why…” (refering to my previous statement, “Because I had to.”) I went to the door, and happily invited him in. 🙂

The cool part was, had I dove right back into the next project, I would have come down, but not been “free” to do so. This time, I was, and it was an enjoyably quirky lunch. (He’s an odd fellow, to be sure…) 🙂

After he left, I just marveled for the rest of that afternoon at God’s timing, and maybe even the way he gave me words to say. I mean… I didn’t know really why I chose the words, “Because I had to,” but they seemed to fit once our friend knocked on the door. (FIVE SECONDS after I said them!!!)

Just a fun God moment in a very busy week. Wanted to share it with you. 🙂