I was supposed to go to work tonight. I didn't, and it led to Jessi and I being available to serve when we were needed.
We were at Deseret Book buying some late Valentine's gifts for each other when Jessi informed me that she was experiencing symptoms of exhaustion that she'd been experiencing for a couple days. I was supposed to leave for work within an hour, but I told her that we needed to get her to the InstaCare immediately because her symptoms shouldn't last for that long. So I called my work and explained the situation. We got to the InstaCare and I decided to take the kids to the Crisis Nursery so that I could focus my attention on caring for Jessi. By the time I got back she was ready to go get the medicine they gave her the prescription for. We stopped a couple of other places on the way home and by the time we got home Jessi was feeling exhausted and not all there because of her medicine. She was about to fall asleep and I was doing laundry when we heard a knock on our door. It was the neighbor asking if we knew how to light a pilot light, because theirs had gone out. Our neighbor is a single mom who had disabled kids, and being wintertime still, being in a cold house all night could have been dangerous for them. Jessi got up out of bed, feeling just fine as if she had never been exhausted, and we both went next door to see what we could do to help. Jessi had lit our pilot light before, but I'd never done it. After watching a couple of YouTube videos on my phone we noticed directions on the furnace explaining how to light the pilot light. We thought we figured out where it was, and we tried to light it, but nothing was happening, and we were getting kind of frustrated. Our neighbor resorted to calling the landlord and telling him she needed help lighting the pilot light because it had gone out. But to her dismay, the landlord said he couldn't make it over to help until the morning. After venting for a few minutes about how disgusted we were with the situation, we started over following the directions again, and Jessi said a quick prayer for help lighting it. After she said the prayer, we followed the last of the instructions, and with a little patience, the pilot light glowed, and they once again had heat in their house. After we got back home, Jessi started feeling exhausted again, and we marveled at how, for the short time we were at the neighbor's house helping them, she felt just fine.
If Jessi hadn't needed to go to the InstaCare, if I hadn't missed work, I wouldn't have been home and Jessi would have been asleep when the neighbor knocked on our door, and they would have been stuck in a cold house all night. The medical condition Jessi has and our decision to take her to the InstaCare started a domino effect that ultimately led to us being available when we were needed. I know that it's no coincidence that Jessi felt fine while we were there helping.
The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. Even the most uncomfortable, the most depressing, the most painful or embarrassing experiences may in fact be leading you to where God wants you to be. All you need to do is trust Him.
