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In 1989 my husband and I wed in a lovely ceremony at high noon in Newberry, SC. My father had died when I was in high school and my mother had moved three states away for a new job. I had my first teaching job in Newberry and decided to marry there.
On the night of our rehearsal, the choir loft was decorated with magnolia leaves and blossoms. All was well as we left the church. However, in the night thunderstorms developed and the power was knocked out causing the church to become hot. When my husband and mother walked into the sanctuary the morning of the wedding, every single magnolia blossom was brown. My husband asked my mom not to tell me and to get replacement blossoms as soon as possible.
Mother didn’t know a soul in the town of Newberry. She paused and prayed, hopped in her car, and headed down main street to the homes with magnolia trees in the front yard. When she went to the door of a home an elderly man answered. She explained the situation and asked if she could please take a few blossoms from his trees to make a bride very happy. The man’s face lit up and he ran to get a step ladder to reach the best blossoms. He filled mother’s car with wild abandonment.
As mother was thanking him, he asked if she was an angel. Mother was stunned and asked what he meant. He told her that is wife of 70 years had passed away the week before. He had been sitting in the house crying and asking why God he had taken his wife and left him alone. He asked God what good was his life now, he was an old dried-up man and couldn’t help anyone. At that moment my mom knocked on his door asking for his help.
God sometimes takes the busiest days of our lives and uses them for his purpose. I am thankful to serve a loving God fills our days with ministry even at the most unexpected times.
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