The right place at the right time

Sometimes God puts you in the place where He needs you the most, whether you want to be there or not.

Tonight I was up on college green doing some work, and I got cornered by a person I really don't enjoy talking to. I lived in her dorm sophmore year, and every time she sees me she wants to talk about how much her life sucks. I try to avoid having lengthy conversations with her, but tonight she was extra chatty and kept me captive until I made some excuse about needing to finish my work before it got too dark to walk home. We bid goodbye (hopefully for a while), and I started the walk home.

I got down to the stoplight at Richland avenue and South Green Drive, and as I was crossing the street I noticed that a foreign graduate student I knew (Connie) was in front of me with a friend of hers who sounded like she was from India. I wanted to pass them because they were walking kind of slow, but I had Riley with me and didn't think they'd appreciate getting shoved to the side by a hairy dog I stayed behind them, itching to get past since I normally walk at unnaturally fast speeds.

They seemed to be in the middle of a conversation about the plant biology department at OU, when Connie's friend collapsed in the middle of her sentence. She fell to the grass, limp, and I immediately hung up on my Mom (whom I was on the phone with) and sprinted the few strides it took me to get to her. I was opening my phone to call 9-1-1 when she woke up, and seemed very disoriented. I made her sit up and put her head between her knees, and asked Connie if she had eaten or had anything to drink recently. Connie said something about her allergies (neither girl had English as her first language), and I asked them if they knew someone who could give her a ride home. She said neither of them had a cell phone, so I started calling people I knew. I called 4 people in vain before I saw a welcome sight ... a black(ish) Saturn coming down the road with a familiar face behind the wheel.

Kevin (the hero of the story!!!) stopped in the middle of Richland avenue after I flagged him down, and agreed to take her home even though I'm sure he was tired after a long day of working and just wanted to get home himself. Thankfully, she lived right on his route to get out of Athens, so I'm hoping it didn't inconvenience him too much to take her back to her apartment. She was very disoriented and embarrassed, and I told her friend Connie that if she didn't get better in an hour or so that she should probably go to the hospital.

It was scary watching her collapse ... but luckily God puts us all in the right place at the right time. There were so many delays that kept me from walking home as soon as I wanted to, but I was in the perfect place to help these two girls get back to their apartment. I've barely seen Kevin on Richland avenue before today, but God works as the organizer of a marathon ... strategically placing aid stations where He knows the racers need them. At the right place, at the right time.