“It is not good for a man to be alone. I will make him a helper who is his equal.” —Gen. 2:18 (literal translation)

The late night call to Barbara and me in Baton Rouge came from my mom in Mississippi telling me my dad in California was dying of cancer. Although I had only seen him once in almost twenty years, I knew I needed to fly to California to be with him. The next day I asked for a week off from work, booked a flight to LAX and stayed with my friends Gary and Cece in Garden Grove. The next day I drove Cece’s car to my hometown of Thousand Oaks, CA to spend the week with my dad in the hospital.

Although it was difficult to see my dad in pain, thinner than I’d ever known and, because he was too weak to shave, wearing a beard I’d never seen before, it was also difficult to be away from home. Yes, I missed Barbara, but there was also something else on my mind, something more basic, more substantial and not very “spiritual” that was calling me home: money.

It’s not like we were out of money. By our limited standards, we had a decent savings account after selling our home in Arkansas and moving to Baton Rouge. However, like most people I know, our money is limited and it was on my mind while I was in California.

Now that you know where my semi-spiritual mind wandered while I was visiting my dad, I also remember sitting at his bedside and thinking, I need to stay another week.  Because such a thought was the complete opposite of my current thinking, I knew it must have been the Holy Spirit speaking to me. Naturally, I fought the thought of staying another week with a bunch of reasons it wouldn’t work. (Wrestling with God’s Spirit is one of the ways I get my spiritual exercise. I don’t recommend it). After finally giving in to the Lord, my next problem was how to tell Barbara I was going to miss another week of work without pay. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit already spoke with her. Continue Reading