He and his family came out of nowhere. It was unexpected on our behalf but absolutely intentional on his behalf.

I got an e-mail not long ago from an old acquaintance that I made while in Ft. Worth. He was aware of our situation with baby Ira and decided that he and his family needed to come to NYC for their Spring Break. He wrote asking if he and I could get together while they were here. That was followed with the question, "do you guys like Broadway shows?" About a week before they came I received an e-mail saying, "we got you tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof with us."

I was to have lunch with him on Tuesday and we were to meet his family for dinner and show on Tuesday night. I mustered up the energy for lunch while storing some away for our evening out with his family. What happened during lunch and that evening with his family was unexpected.

While eating a burger at the local bar he described in detail what he thought I was going through. It turns out that he has been through tragedy and trauma very recently and was a few steps ahead of me. He accurately described how much energy it took me to meet him for lunch and how much it would take for Laura and me to come to dinner and a show that evening. I was blown away. I sat at the table filled with tears as he shared his own story and what I could expect down the road.

He then asked if he could come over to pray for Laura and me. On the way home, we stopped by a store specializing in oils. He bought some frankincense. Laura and I are pretty open so this did not at all weird us out. In fact, I was kinda ho-hum about it still not expecting much.

He sat us down on our sofa, met Laura for the first time, told us his story and a bit of history about anointing people with oil. He was very sincere, gentle and honest. His honesty shown through when he told us he's been praying for baby Ira for quite some time and revealed that he has not had peace about it. He anointed Laura first and then me. He pleaded on our behalf for a miracle and that God would help us with our unbelief. He was very genuine, realistic and passionate. Laura and I sobbed uncontrollably.

We weren't expecting much from our evening with his family and he was right, we had to dig deep into our reservoir for the energy to go. What we didn't expect was the laughter we would share with his family over dinner at Carmine's as we talked about his eleventh grade daughter's boyfriends and the fun cab ride over to the show with his seventh grade son and his first grade daughter. This was a close-knit family that provided us with a rest from an ordinary Tuesday evening.

None of this was expected but as I think about it today I can tell that my friend had orchestrated the entire experience. Or rather, God orchestrated it and my friend listened. I am glad that this once acquaintance is now my friend and I look forward to spending more time with he and his family in the future.