opportunity of crisis

we sometimes allow the pressure of time rather than the love of some end to motivate us forward into action we also sometimes stay wrapped in ourselves so tightly that we miss the opportunity for new connections with others. we realized this yesterday.
it was a few past a few minutes past 11am. our ride was coming at 12 to bring us to the airport. we had a shortening list of things to do and an even more shortening amount of time to do them in. only a few loose ends lay untied on the fabric we were about to leave on the east coast.
as we ran up the stairs to get the last few remaining things out of our pad, i flipped through the keys on my ring and realized, perhaps in different words, "mmm. the house key is not on here." "where did you put it?" "i must have put it on the other ring, in your purse." "is the sliding door open on the balcony?" "i don't think so." "i'll climb up and see. you check the trunk of the car for another spare." "the sliding door is locked." "there's no spare in the trunk." blast. curse. spit.
for the past week or so we'd been seeing a guy with his sprawling family come pouring out of their family van like a circus act, and had been saying to ourselves, "that dude's gotta be a christian. we should talk to him." but, alas, we hadn't taken the initiative.
as we stood fretting outside of our pad on this day, this man was loading up his van with the help of his many children. we had no key, no phone, and no one around with a spare to get in our place...and the clock was ticking. we were compelled to ask this guy if we could use his phone to call our realtor and ask for a miracle. tracy asked...and called. no answer. the guy, kevin, suggested we try using a credit card to get in.
as i tried the card, tracy talked to kevin and his kids. as it turns out, kevin works with wycliffe and is a bible translator. he's been up here with his family visiting some friends. he works with an organization called jaars in north carolina, and recommends that we go check out their facility to see if we'd like to work there.
i'm often hesitant to say that events are the result of direct divine intervention. i am often weak in faith, perhaps. i can't help but wonder, though, if we were supposed to meet kevin, and since we hadn't taken the initiative, God had to orchestrate the occasion.
we ended up getting in with the card trick. loose ends were tied up and stored. we and our flights were on time and ultimately untroubled.
lesson one: we want to make things happen instead of waiting for them to happen. we want to take initiative with others in our life, seeing good opportunities and entering into them. we also want to be motivated by love, rather than by fear--which is what "the pressure of time," or procrastination, is all about.