An inconvenient time

I believe most would agree that visiting an ailing 90-year old grandmother should be a top priority. Well, though it should be a top priority, it is very easy to find excuses or other life events that are happening to keep from making the trip, especially when the visit takes a 24-hour round trip drive at today's fuel prices and the actual time with grandma would only last a couple hours at best. Now, try to bring four adult brothers, each with their own lives and families, together to make the trip at the same time! That, my friends, is what I was blessed to be involved with this last weekend.

Everyone had their own reasons why the trip would be a difficult one to make, and yet it was understood by all of us that it had to be done - whatever the cost. Let's look at the factors.

1. One brother had a very busy work schedule that was already keeping him hundreds of miles away from his family on a daily basis. The weekends that he did have available were spent commuting from Texas to Georgia to spend a few precious moments with his wife and three kids.

2. Another brother is coach for his son's soccer team. The trip would mean missing the game that weekend as well as the little free time away from his consulting job to be with his daughter and his wife as well.

3. Brother number three is a pivotal player in two family businesses; the administrative lifeblood to his and our dad's company. When you run your own businesses, weekends take on a whole new meaning!

4. I was forced to be gone on my son's fifth birthday and miss accompanying Rachel during a church solo. My work is starting to snowball and being on the road for just one day caused my e-mail inbox to swell to well over 60 messages.

Enter God.

1. An accident on the job forced brother number one to stop work at his jobsite until a review of all safety mechanisms was performed.

2. Brother number two discovered late Friday that Saturday's game had been cancelled due to heavy rains!

3. The third brother was able to take a minimum number of office calls on the road and keep things afloat while mobile.

4. Last minute preparation by the skilled musicians we work with at church provided Rachel the accompaniment she needed and Andrew's birthday came one day early this year (or maybe I just didn't recognize Leap Day)!

Needless to say the trip was a terrific success. I can't remember a time that all four of us were together in such a close proximity without completely getting at eachother's nerves, yet this past weekend was different. Everyone understood the gravity the trip would have in our lives and the joy we would bring to our grandmother by making it happen. There were of course twists and turns along the way. For instance a massive snow storm stretching from Lousiana to the Ohio River Valley got in our way while traversing the NE corner of Arkansas. God decided we needed a break(down) and we spent three hours in Jonesboro getting a new alternator on our van. The snow pounded the entire time we waited and then, just as we pulled out, it seemed to clear up. In the end, we all gained a terrific experience and a few minutes with our grandmother that would have otherwise slipped away. I hope that we were able to share a little joy with her as well.

Moral of the story:
There's almost never a convenient time to do what's right, and it's almost never right to do just what's convenient.

God bless ya'll!