What a friend we have in Jesus!

This post is a continuation of the previous post.  You may wish to scroll down and read it first.  

Yesterday morning I observed that my wife seemed agitated about something. When I asked her about it, she confessed that she was indeed agitated: about our son Andrew’s struggles.  "I have no one to talk with about Andrew that really understands.“ So, together we prayed that God would provide someone.

Then, last night, Sandy and and I went out to eat at the restaurant at which our daughter Emma works.  We had just ordered when a family we know from church came into the restaurant.  As they were being seated nearby I called over to them, "So do you eat here all the time, too!"

I said that jokingly because we do not often eat at that restaurant (and never had until Emma began working there) and, I presume, they do not either because they, like us, live on the opposite side of town.  Nevertheless, we had seen them at that same restaurant just a couple of weeks earlier. We talked about the coincidence, exchanged pleasantries and then went back to our tables.

After our meal, Sandy and I ran a couple of errands, the last of which was to a grocery store. As we pulled into the parking lot, who did we see?  The mother of the family we had just seen at the restaurant.  She was without her husband and children, who had driven in separate cars, so she had stopped to pick up some eggs.  Without the usual distraction of her kids, she was able to take time to talk with us.

Sandy complimented her on her children, two of which Sandy has been working with on a church musical production. (Sandy had  observed to me several times what good and polite boys they are, so I knew Sandy was not merely being polite.)  That lead to a long conversation (40 minutes, standing in the parking lot) about her children, and more specifically about the struggles of one of them, who has Asperger's.  She told us things that she is generally not comfortable sharing with just anyone.  And, importantly, much of what she had to say about her son was mirrored in the life of our own son. (Who is dealing with other underlying issues but who has many of the same difficulties.)

As as our conversation finished, I told the woman what Sandy had said that morning about not having anyone to talk with who really understands . She immediately gave Sandy her phone number and said "Let’s stay in touch!"

God had answered our pray of that very morning!

I love the old song we often sang in church as I was growing up.

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
  All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
  Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
  O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
  Everything to God in prayer!

(You'll find the story behind that song here.)

Jesus said, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…."  Matt. 6:6

Thank you, dear Heavenly Father.

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