I have always known that God has a plan for each and everyone one of us and that He uses us to do his will. Honestly, I always paid attention to how he was using others to do his will and never really thought he would use me. It wasn't until I was sitting in front of my friend's mother's grave that I realized he does use me and nothing is ever a coincidence.

For the sake of my friend's privacy, I'm going to give them a pseudonym. I hadn't spoken to, much less laid eyes on Blake in gosh, maybe close to seven years. I recently adopted a pit bull (who is very sweet, by the way) and so he struck up a conversation on Facebook about our dogs--he has a pit puppy. Anyway, he started talking about how he was trying to get his life together and get back into the church, so I invited him to the church my family and I attend. The Sunday he came happened to be Mother's Day. His mother died when we were 10 and since then, he's had a bad home life and a hard time getting right. The preacher's sermon that day wasn't about mothers, it was about how we as Christians need to make ourselves attractive. By attractive he meant that we should watch how we react and what we show others. Everything we do should reflect our love for Jesus Christ. He made a good point by saying something along the lines of, "Why would nonbelievers want to learn about and be Christians when they can look at you and say, 'hey, we do the exact same things and we're doing just as well and I'm not a Christian.'" In other words, our behavior, our language, how we react, everything should reflect the love of Jesus Christ. Ever since the passing of Blake's mother, he has acted out, hung out with the wrong crowd, and has been in serious trouble several times. I think Blake needed to hear this sermon.

After the service, we made small talk and he told me he was going to see his mother. After we said our goodbyes he was weighing heavy on my heart, so I texted him and asked if I could come with him. I watched him start crying before we even got out of his truck, I watched him pour coffee over her grave (coffee was always her favorite), I watched him sit down in front of her grave and break down. It wasn't until I too was sitting in the grass comforting him and listening to him tell me things he's never told anyone else that I realized God set this up.

God will put people in your life for two reasons: to teach you something you need to know or you'll teach them something they need to know. God will use you in ways you would have never known possible and put you in situations that you could have never imagined yourself in. I was there that day to show Blake love and to encourage him, to let him know that things can change for the better. It wasn't just a coincidence that someone I hadn't seen in seven years came back into my life on this particular day. God knew what he needed that day and led him straight to someone who could give it to him. Always be on the lookout for these little opportunities in life because you never know when they might appear.