so that

She held her arms bent, clenched fists toward me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need you to give me strength for the next two hours."

"Oh, then let's pray right now," I said, and grabbed her hands and held them tightly.

We were standing in the bathroom at the church. When I had arrived, no one knew where she was, so I headed in to--well, use the facilities. And sensed that the person in the stall might be her, so I waited.

It has been quite a journey for her these past three weeks or so.

Her parents called and asked her to come--two months earlier than she had planned. Her husband said, "Go".

She arrived from Germany on a Tuesday. When I called that Saturday to wish her a happy birthday, she was in the emergency room with her 89-year old father. "I will always remember this birthday," she said. "But we've had lots of great talks since I arrived."

The next Tuesday, she woke in the wee hours and felt intense anguish for her father, so prayed, asking God to take him--he had said he was ready, and he was in such pain. She felt like she could go back to sleep, but within twenty minutes her brother called to let her know their dad had died.

So many things happened so that she could be here when he died. Her parents asked... her husband said go...she was able to get a good price on a flight... She prayed...her dad was ready...and so was God.

So many things happened today so that I could be there at the moment we prayed. I didn't leave work when I planned, then decided to stop and get gas, there were no parking spots in the church lot, I had to scrounge for change to put in the parking meter...

There are so many intersections in this story... God at work everywhere, bringing us together for today's celebration of a life well-lived.

Perhaps so that I will consider the legacy I might leave, changing course where needed so that people will say that mine was life well-lived.