The Right Place at the Right Time

Sometimes the universe truly puts us in the right place at the right time. This weekend I had an experience that still gives me goosebumps, the good kind, when I stop and think about it.

I was helping to set up for Tyler’s baseball team’s yard sale when another mom found three ultrasound photos in one of the books for sale. She asked what she should do with them. I quickly took them and scanned the top of the photos looking to see who they belonged too. I was hoping it was a mom on our team so they could easily be returned.  I had one of those feelings that these pictures were not meant to be in a box at a yard sale, but rather in a baby book in someone’s home.

While they didn’t belong to a mom on our team, I did know who they belonged to – one of Tyler’s friend’s moms. I quickly put the pictures in my glove compartment and made a mental note to send her a Facebook message letting her know I had the photos. The next day after the yard sale, I took Molly to her T-Ball game. When we got to the field, the other mom was there, as her youngest son, the one in the photos was finishing his T-Ball game.

I approached her and told her that she wasn’t going to believe what I had found. She immediately teared up, as did her mom, who was standing beside her. Another mutual friend shook her head in awe. While I didn’t know exactly what was happening, I had a sense it was bigger than any of us standing there. I was right. I booked it back to my car to retrieve the photos. When I returned she shared her story with me.

The book that held the ultrasound photos ended up in the yard sale box unintentionally and she thought she had lost the photos forever. While all mothers would argue that there “first pictures” of their babies are sacred, these were even more so. As this beautiful, sweet woman and mom had been expecting twins and lost one of her precious gifts early on. It was at that moment, that I realized why she was shedding tears and why my arms were breaking out in goosebumps. I was there when a piece of her heart was found in a book and was able to return it to her.

She later sent me a Facebook post that said: “You were part of God's hands and feet last night! Thank you so much for getting the ultrasound pictures back to his mommy!” 

The stranger part of this story is that I had been struggling to find some clarity earlier in the week and had prayed for a sign. That sign came at a ball field, between moms.   

True confession of the day: When you truly listen to others, you also grow as a person.