Perfect Timing

Perfect Timing

A few years ago, I first met Gary and Susan after Gary shared at our church about the work God was doing through Venture Nias in Indonesia. Their faith and obedience were inspiring. Lives were being changed in a faraway place because they had said yes to the leading of the Great Shepherd.

Then about twelve months ago, everything changed. Gary was diagnosed with serious lung cancer and returned to California for extensive treatment at Loma Linda. The shepherd’s path sometimes leads through valleys we would never choose.

Psalm 23 reminds us:

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” — Psalm 23:4

One Sunday morning, just recently, as we gathered as a church before we started serving that morning, our lead pastor, Troy, shared an update about Gary. After months of difficult treatment, doctors could no longer find the large mass that had been in Gary’s lung. It felt like a miracle. Yet Gary would still need ongoing immunotherapy and would likely need to remain in California for another year.

Gary and Susan needed a place to stay.

As I looked at Gary’s face, I could just tell that he needed to be at Hattie’s House.

But there was one challenge.

We had no openings.

But God did.

A mom and her daughter, who were in a similar situation to Gary and Susan, had come to San Diego desperate to receive treatment at one of our local hospitals. The timing had worked out just right for them to move into our Carmel Valley apartment. But as their treatment began, sadly the program there proved to be very difficult and it was not working for her daughter.

After much prayer, they made the very difficult decision to pursue a different plan. Yet that decision would allow her daughter to return home and continue treatment there with her family for the first time in a very long time.

The timing was remarkable.

The week they prepared to leave became the very week Gary and Susan needed a place.

What looked like no vacancy suddenly became perfect provision.

“The Lord will provide.” — Genesis 22:14

At Hattie’s House we don’t choose who God sends us to love. We simply make ourselves available. We may hold the keys, but in truth we are just the doormen. God determines the timing, the needs, the healing, and the provision.

One family stepped into a new season of hope back home. Gary and Susan stepped into an apartment that will now serve as their home during this next chapter of healing.

Meanwhile, the church in Nias continues to thrive as the leaders Gary and Susan helped train carry on the work.

“He goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” — Deuteronomy 31:8

Watching this unfold brings a quiet smile. Different families. Different valleys. The same faithful Shepherd guiding every step.

Maybe that’s the encouragement for today: be available. Open the door. Make the call. Offer the hug. There may be a need right in front of you, and God may want to meet it through you.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” — Ephesians 3:20

We simply hold the keys.

He does the rest.

Doorman Hattie’s House