The Right Place at the Right Time by Sharon Heagy

Betula Lake, Manitoba - a favourite place

Sometimes we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, like when I was a youngster and went to cross the street near a giant puddle. At that exact moment a car zoomed through the puddle, drenching me from head to toe. Unfortunately for the driver there was a police car right behind her and she got a ticket for drenching a pedestrian. She too was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes we are in the right place at the wrong time like when my sister and her husband were late for their son’s wedding. “They won’t start without us,” said my brother-in-law. He was wrong. Yet when they walked in the church and followed the bride and groom down the aisle it looked like part of the ceremony. Most of the congregation had never experienced a Ukrainian Orthodox wedding and were none the wiser until they told us later.

Sometimes you can convince people you are in the wrong place at the wrong time even when you are right on schedule. My Mom and Dad were blessed with being able to head to Maui, Hawaii for a few weeks every winter. When my mom passed away, Dad wanted to go back. He said it was like going home and told us if we could find our way over, he would provide the accommodation. One of my sisters and my brother-in-law were there already. It was a bittersweet trip as it was my mom’s dream to be able to afford to take all her kids to the islands. Though we went after her passing, much of her dream came true as all but one of her children made the trip and 3 out of 6 while she was alive.

When we reached San Francisco we were a bit hungry so we popped into a small airport restaurant for lunch. It was there we devised a plan to phone my sister at the condo in Hawaii and tell her a tale. When we called my brother-in-law answered. We could hear him relaying our message to the others “You won’t believe this! Their luggage is on the way but they got on the wrong plane and they’re headed to Chicago!” The people at the next table were chuckling as they overheard our conversation. We then fessed up and told the truth. We were at the right place at the right time and we would be there on time.

There was another lady who was in the right place at the right time and her name was Esther. It seems fitting to mention this heroic lady who was prepared by God to save the Jewish people at the behest of her cousin, Mordecai. She risked her life to expose Haman’s evil plot and save the Israelites from extermination. Today, Jewish people all over the world are celebrating Purim, a feast and festival to honour Mordecai and Esther and remember this time in history. Mordecai had said to Esther, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NIV) The right place at the right time to be used by God. Place mattered in Esther’s story.

Place matters in our stories too. Our characters generally can’t buy a cinnamon bun in a doctor’s office or sit under a palm tree in Northern Saskatchewan but we can create worlds with our words where this is indeed possible and believable. We can also transport readers to places that are well known to us, relating the details using our five senses. Whisking them away to places they have never been but would now recognize if they ever found themselves there.

Maybe our words will lead them to heaven, a place where we have never been but would indeed recognize if we found ourselves there.

Perhaps as we prayerfully write, our words will be used by God to expose a Haman, save a generation or just plant a seed in one soul because they can relate to the details of a place in our creations. The possibilities are as limitless as the purposes of God and who knows, perhaps we will craft words “for such a time as this.”

To find out more about Purim click or copy the link below.
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/things-christians-should-know-about-purim.html

Sharon Heagy writes from Rockglen, Saskatchewan where she lives with her husband, three cats and one very large dog, all of whom bring sunshine into her life. She writes to inspire and give hope, with a chuckle or two along the way.