As a pastor, I am given a great many opportunities to talk to people especially about faith. This is often much to the chagrin of my family because they don't always occur at the most convenient of times. I would say that most often they are not at convenient times. Usually, when I say that something shouldn't take long that is when something happens and these conversations occur. Last night, I came home from a meeting that I had told my wife shouldn't be long. Well, I ended up having a great conversation and faith issues came up and I ended up home about an hour and a half later than I expected. It was with a grandmother and her granddaughter. The conversation ended up with some faith questions of the granddaughter, a teenage girl with questions. In the midst of that some great and deep issues came up and it just felt good. I came home and apologized and shared with my wife my thoughts on the conversation, but a comment my wife brought up that I said has struck me, "I jinxed myself, every time I say it shouldn't be long it's like God says, 'Nope, I've got something more in store for you.'" Well, never before has a conversation had a greater importance in my recollection because as this grandmother and granddaughter were driving home the car they were in was struck and both were killed. I have a great many mixed emotions about this, but my prayer is that the faith affirming words I shared with the granddaughter prepared her for when the Lord called her home. One part of the conversation that sticks with me now is when I shared with her Romans 10:13, "All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." I am thankful for the opportunity and sad that two lives were lost, but am more emboldened in not allowing for moments for God conversations to be missed. You never know what impact words may have in the lives of another, especially if the last conversation they have is with you.
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