Seeing God in a Federal Building

On Friday, May 14, 2010, my sister and I went to the federal building in downtown Little Rock for my Social Security appointment. This appointment was given to me, I did not pick it. We arrived a few minutes early, found a place at the end of the parking meters...which meant Terri didn't have to parallel park - an event she was hoping to avoid! There were 9 minutes left on the meter. I filled it with coins to give us 2 hours, not knowing how long we would be. We walked through the metal detector and found the Social Security office to our immediate left. We walked in, I checked in and we sat down. We both noticed that looked out of place - we knew there were many sad stories around us without even talking to anyone. The room was full, there were lots of windows - I counted 17. At exactly my appointment time, I am called to window 9. We sat down and faced a very pleasant young woman with a quiet demeanor. I was immediately comfortable with her. Not knowing what to expect, I was relieved it wasn't someone grouchy or insensitive. We spent approximately 20 minutes with me giving her information to put in the system. She asked me for the kids' birth certificates. She noticed that Allie was born in Monticello and seems surprised - as if she was expecting it to say Little Rock. Then she noticed that Nate was born in Pine Bluff. The dialouge follows: "Y'all sure did a lot of jumping around! Pine Bluff, Monticello, Little Rock...." I explained that we were actually in Monticello when Nate was born. She begins, "I lived in Monticello from '95 to '02." Very matter-of-fact, no hint or suggestion that our paths ever crossed. I replied, "Brad actually graduated from UAM in '95, then he went to work for the banks." My sister laughed as she said "almost all of them!" Adding: "Y'all may have passed each other at WalMart!" We laughed and the young woman began having a puzzled look on her face. She asked, "Did he go by Brad?" (all the documents stated his given name, Bradley) I said yes. Then she said, "Did he work at Heartland Bank?" I said yes, again. "Was he a loan officer?" Again, yes. Terri says "Show her a picture." So, I pull up his picture on my iPhone. She looks at it, smiles, then starts nodding her head yes. Then the most amazing thing happened. Tears welled up in her eyes...she started talking... "I knew him. He got me up on my feet when I was a student. He gave me a signature loan to help me get started.....I had nothing, I was a student. He was a great judge of character - he always knew when my son's father and I were 'on the rocks.' In fact, about 6 months before my son's father and I split up, Brad went through and took my name off all the loans so I wouldn't be responsible for the debt my son's father was in - he was buying 4-wheelers and all this stuff. Brad basically built my credit." Past this point, my memory is fuzzy because I was so stunned to be sitting in the Social Security office listening to a total stranger tell me how my husband helped her many years ago. We may say "what are the odds of that happening?" I could guess a million to one....but the truth is, there are no odds involved. It was an encounter totally orchestrated by God. I was so encouraged and filled with the Holy Spirit. There are no coincidences, only parts of God's plan being revealed to us. We wiped our tears and completed the paperwork. Before we left, she asked if I had any questions for her. I told her I had one, but that it didn't have anything to do with Social Security, but it had everything to do with Brad. "I don't know what your faith is, but faith was the most important thing to Brad. I know Brad would want me to use this opportunity to mention it. I would love for you to come to our church." She told me they attended a church regularly, but were not members. She took my email, but I've not heard from her. I'm not really expecting to. I am, however, praising God for giving me a glimpse of Brad in an otherwise unwanted situation. God is with us and around us.....even showing up in a federal building.