By Jeremy Rose
Have you ever showed up at the right place at the wrong time? Not in a bad way — in the kind of way that turns into a blessing before you even see it coming?
That happened to me this week, and it made my day. Honestly, it made my whole week.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but early on, one of our pets had an accident. A true accident — nobody’s fault, just one of those things. He’s mending now, and Lord willing, he’ll make a full recovery. But it got me thinking about why we had him in our lives in the first place. All the memories he’s given our family. All the times his goofiness raised our spirits without him ever knowing he was doing it.
And for someone as obnoxiously sentimental as I am, I cried like a hundred-year flood had let loose behind the Dam. That was Sunday, or thereabouts. What happened over the rest of the week put me in a much better place.
Our pet is healing, thank God. And somewhere in the middle of worrying about him, I met a couple of people — and a sweet dog — that buoyed my spirit right back up.
I met the dog at a new business I stopped into. We made small talk, I gave her a scratch behind the ears, and then she wandered over to a little button on the floor and pressed it with her paw. Out of nowhere, a voice said, “I love you!”
I about jumped out of my Nikes. I turned around, and there she was, looking up at me with those big eyes like she’d planned the whole thing. It was her. She’d pushed the button and told me she loved me.
What a gift, animals are. It caught me off guard and I teared up right there in the lobby — happy tears this time, and exactly when I needed them. It’s something else, what animals can sense, and how they show up for us in ways even our best friends can’t quite manage.
Then there was the grand opening.
I had it circled on my calendar — a ribbon-cutting at another new business in town. I’d even emailed ahead to say I’d be there. And then, being me, I showed up ten minutes early to the wrong day. A full twenty-four hours off. Only me.
I walked in, feeling pretty proud of my punctuality, and my contact spotted me coming through the door.
“You coming for the ribbon-cutting?” he asked.
“Yes!” I said, chest puffed out a little.
I looked around. No crowd. No commotion. No hub-bub of any kind. He just smiled.
“It was yesterday.”
I couldn’t believe it. But by the look of the place — quiet, settled, end of the day business time— he clearly wasn’t pulling my leg. I must’ve had a face on me, because he laughed and said, “It’s okay! C’mon over and let’s visit.”
So we did. For the next three hours, two basic strangers sat and talked — business, family, careers, sports, and eventually, a heart-to-heart about walking with Christ. It turned into one of the most incredible afternoons I’ve had in a while. A new friendship was born. The time lifted me clean up, and I hope it did the same for him.
God knows when we need encouragement. The trouble is, most of the time we’re too busy running our regular, overwhelmed lives to actually stop and listen. I know I am. But I’m grateful He keeps trying anyway — keeps putting a talking dog or a missed ribbon-cutting in our path, right when we need it, even when we don’t know we need it.
So I guess to make a long story short — I’ve been blessed this week. And I hope you have been too. Not by this story, of course, but by whatever it is God’s been doing quietly in your own walk.
Have a great weekend, and try to dry out.
