It took me a long time to get my thoughts all the way together for Matthew 25:21 – but that was necessary as a backdrop before I shared God’s sense of humor. So this short post is rather late in getting written and posted.

My new job – started on October 11, 2021 – involves, in part, receiving donations of used furniture and  providing that furniture to those in need after cleaning and sanitizing the same. A necessary component of that ministry involves lifting and carrying heavy pieces of furniture. I was just under a month into the new role when a gentleman came to our office. He had just come straight from his chiropractor’s office because he knew that we took used furniture. His chiropractor commented to him that he’d just had a new couch delivered to his house and the old one was out in his driveway. He didn’t have room to keep it inside and he didn’t yet have any specific plans for getting rid of it. It was supposed to rain the next day and he was really looking for someplace to pick it up and to do so quickly. This fellow knew of us and where we were located, so he just came directly over to ask for details on what items we take and what details we might need.

I told him that I would need to check to see if my guy with a truck was available on such short notice (we usually need a week or more to schedule pick ups depending on volunteer availability and warehouse space). But I asked him for the donor’s information. It turned out to be the same chiropractor that *I* go to regularly. (See “Back” Home).

I called Marty. I hadn’t been in to see him yet since I started the new job and he wasn’t aware of any of the details of my recent change. So when I called him – seemingly out of the blue – and told him that I heard he was looking to unload a couch, he was understandably confused. I then gave him a little bit more background, updating him on my new job and the visit I’d just received from one of his other patients. I told him I would do my best to get something worked out that day to pick up his couch so that it wouldn’t get rained on. I was ultimately able to work out a pickup for that afternoon. Both Marty and I found it particularly ironic that through his generosity, I would soon be over lifting items heavier than a briefcase full of stacks of paper. His furniture donations that I assisted on pickup were perhaps just a bit of job security for him! God does sometimes have a sense of humor. Thankfully, I did not have any back mishaps in that pickup (or any others to date). :::knock on wood:::

The very next day after talking to Marty, I got a call from another interested donor, looking to unload a bed mattress and box springs. I thought I recognized the caller ID when it displayed on the phone extension. The caller’s voice over the phone once I answered confirmed it. This time I was talking to Chris who sat in the chair immediately to my right throughout the entire ACTS weekend the previous May – when I was praying for [what turned out to be] this job opportunity.

Taking that call, Chris was the very first person, outside of my immediate family, where I was able to tell an extremely short summary version of the story related in Mathew 25:21. Being on the ACTS retreat with me, I knew that he would understand and appreciate the ties that this new job had to that weekend.

So two “non-coincidence” God-Incidences on successive back to back days: God poking me in the ribs by making me do some heavy lifting at the bequest/generosity of my chiropractor and God sending me a donation from one of the guys who would truly appreciate the story of how I got into this new role.

And did I mention that these two inquiries came during a week when my part time staff person was on vacation and unavailable to answer the phone or tend to any walk-in’s? Normally she would have fielded both of these inquiries, but in this timing – I was the recipient of both inquiries by default.

Praise God!