MISSED MOMENTS
In the middle of our chaotic lives it can be easy to miss the opportunities God puts right in front of us. I recently walked away from an encounter, realizing how incredible it was, only after the moment was over.
Our son (only 2 weeks old at the time) was admitted to the hospital in Bangkok. I was there all day every day for the entire week he was there. During that time I saw families come and go and even witnessed one family lose their child. Fast forward to when our son was almost two months old and we were in Laos doing a visa run. We decided to go to the pool one of the days. When we walked in a lady immediately says "I remember you from the hospital in Bangkok." Through a conversation in broken English, I found out that she lived in Laos but was at the hospital visiting her sister the same time we were there. Her sister had three boys but one got sick with an infection of the heart and ended up dying while there. The same family I had witnessed! She showed me pictures of the baby when he was alive, the beautiful Thai funeral they had, and even FaceTimed her other sister with me so she could show her the "farang woman and baby" she had met.
After I had walked away from the encounter it was like my brain suddenly caught up and realized just how cool of an opportunity that was. I began to play the shoulda, coulda, woulda game, thinking of all the comforting things I could have said, the comments about praying for her family that I would have said if I had another chance, and that I should have gotten her contact information to grow the relationship. I kicked myself for not sharing more about my faith and apologized to God for focusing more on the chaos of my own life (three littles running crazy at the pool) than on the one person God put in front of me to encourage and minister to.
I cannot get that moment back and I may not see her ever again but that experience has served as a learning opportunity for me. It was a wake up call for me, a reminder that all interactions and everything I do should point back to Jesus. God does not want me to live in regret but use that experience to fuel me forward. I continue to pray for this woman and her family and moving forward I am now actively looking for those moments that God has delicately and divinely orchestrated.
