“You’re Pat, aren’t you?” The question comes from a middle-aged lady standing in my physiotherapist’s office.
I glance up from the notebook I am scribbling in. Along with my lipstick and credit card the notebook is an essential.
“Should I know you?” I ask. Then she tells me something that just wrenches my heart.
“We lost our house in the 80s when we had that recession and my husband was without a job. You signed a letter saying we couldn’t get into the subsidized housing program. I still have the letter.”
At that time I was volunteering with that organization. Of course she had no idea that we had hundreds of letters from needy people and the decision making was on a point system. I had no control over it…I just signed the “Yes we are pleased” and “No we are sorry” letters.
I let her talk it out as we sat there waiting for our turn. My name was called and I went into the room assigned. Minutes later as I lay there on my cot with various electrodes on my back, I had twenty minutes to pray and pray I did.
I hadn’t caught her name, (I am so poor on names) but her face I would never forget. So I asked God to help me in some way to contact her and see if I could make amends.
After, when I walked back into the waiting room, there she was!
She smiled weakly and I walked right up to her and said “You need a hug”…and you know, she hugged me back.
We stood there for about five minutes and chatted. She too had lost her husband and there is a code with most widows…a sharing code that allows you to be up front and personal, recognizing the road each of you are travelling.
Later we parted with a goodbye wave and I thanked God that this opportunity had come my way. Over thirty years that lady had carried a resentment towards me that I knew nothing about. It was pretty humbling.
When my sciatica struck months earlier I could think of no good coming out of it. Yet, God had a plan for the two of us to meet and for reconciliation to take place. God could use even the pain of it to achieve His goals. It was a small price to pay for the look of warmth and forgiveness that lit that lady’s face as she said her goodbyes.
Thirty years! Thirty years for His plans to be fulfilled.
“For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
