We learn of a sizeable gift waiting to be awarded and it is my job to find a suitable recipient.
I make a plan to set up a meeting with a colleague to discuss potential possibilities.
But then I remember his department has an event, so to be courteous, I table it until the following day.
I make a new plan to set up a meeting, but discover he can only meet after 4 and I can only meet before 3.
I decide to meet with his assistant instead, and I plan to walk right over. However, interruptions and distractions delay my departure.
Hours later, I walk across campus.
Since the person I need to speak with isn't where I thought she might be, I climb the stairs to try to find her in the workroom.
I pass by a series of open office doors, and wave hello to friends who look up from their work as I quietly parade by.
I pop my head around one doorway and whisper, "Good morning, Friend!"
"Please come in! I want to talk to you."
I never planned to stop or sit down or to plunge into a deeply authentic conversation. I was unaware that we had been at odds, that I had unknowingly caused confusion and pain more than a year before. I hadn't anticipated the heartfelt exchange of apologies and forgiveness that was literally waiting for me in a room to which I hadn't planned to go.
We share our sides. Bitterness is confessed and remorse is expressed. There is a holiness hovering heavy as hushed and humble words miraculously clear the air. I look up and use my ring fingers to wipe the moist mascara from below my eyes and then I stand to go. We thank each other for the honesty and grace and then marvel at how fresh and welcome the freedom feels.
Eventually, I finish the scholarship conversation I planned from the beginning. But not before God was able to use delay and deferment to position me with precision timing for the greater purpose.
There was indeed a priceless and powerful gift to be offered and it was my joy to find - and to be - the suitable recipient.
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." Proverbs 16:9
