Timing, fate, fortune, luck

Older son came home from work last night all-a tremble. "Mom," he says, "you've got to ease my mind about something that happened this morning in school. I've been thinking about it...all day."

Turns out he got an award at school and later there was a talent show and he got one of the last tickets although the show had only fifteen minutes to go. So he figured, why not? So in he goes. And turns out there's a raffle with the tickets. The raffler-picker (or whatever you call her) dipped her hand into the box and took out a ticket, called a number. Waited. Repeated number. Person wasn't there. Took out another ticket. Called a number. Waited. Repeated number. Person wasn't there. Took out another ticket. Son heard all the numbers on his ticket being read except the last one. He wondered if he should walk the long road ahead to claim the prize. What if he was an idiot, etc? Folks upfront might laugh at him. Raffler repeated number again. Yep, it was his number. He had won $200. And we really coulda used the money. But he was afraid of walking upfront but was still nervous...and just couldn't do it. Some guys who disliked him were upfront and none of his friends were around. As he pondered whether he should go or not, the raffler-picker lady called out a new name. He let the money go. He was existentialistically-stressed about it all day. Why had such a thing happened? Had he been an idiot? Was this just bad luck dogging his steps?

It reminded me of another time when some weirdo technical glitch happened with my phone just when I was about to win a radio program giveaway.

The kid was so weirded out I had to say...

Well son remember when my friend the singer always bought a lotto ticket and the one night she didn't buy the ticket was the night she won. Remember? She said everything kept telling her to buy the ticket as she usually did and when night fell she kept thinking, "did I forget to do what I was supposed to do?" Then the next morning she was sooo nauseated when she saw the numbers and realized they were her numbers? And she was in bed for a week. Son, maybe God made her not buy that lottery ticket. All the bad family issues that pop up with winning lottery tickets. And it's possible that if you had taken the winning money those weirdo enemies of yours might have jumped you and taken the money. Maybe God protected you.

I said, "yes, maybe it's not that you weren't listening to God but that you were."
"Yes," he said, "and none of my friends were there to walk with me back to my car."
Ah, the things we moms have to do. Am not sure if I said all this to ease his spirit...or if I really believed it. But it gave him peace.

Well, okay, the same weirdo thing kinda happened to me today. I'm home all day and made absolutely no phone call. And the very moment I made the phone call....wouldn't you know..an important call came in.

This kind of stuff happens not always..but often enough to make one really ponder what exactly luck is...and what fortune--misfortune...or God's timing is. I just have to decide that my times are in God's hand.