Missed Opportunities

I believe in divine appointments; when God brings people together for a purpose. I also believe we usually miss more of those times than we get - missed opportunities to impact the kingdom of God. I think I may have had a divine appointment yesterday. Not sure if I missed it or not.

I was at the dentist for a check up. The dental hygienist immediately began to tell me part of her story. She first told me she was expecting a baby in 19 days. Then she told me how her mother, last week, was diagnosed with cancer and only given 9 months to live and her father had died of cancer two years ago. She did more talking than I did, mainly because my mouth was full.

My son Andrew was with me and was doing a great job of being patient and not messing with the equipment, too much. She commented on how well behaved he was and "what was my secret." I told here the secret was Ritalin, which started a whole new conversation about her 5 year old and some of the problems he was having in school that made her think of ADD. I gave her the ten minute brief on everything that I had learned from experience and research about ADD.

I left the conversation feeling glad that I was the kind of person that would let a stranger dump their story on them. And I believe that my listening was a good thing and probably left her in a better place.

But I wonder if I should have done or said more. I wonder if I was distracted by Andrew being with me and if I missed an opportunity to set an example of how to minister to someone in a more signaficant way?

The one great thing about missed opportunities is we can learn from them and move on to the next one.