A Perfect Excuse

By Kay Heitsch

The phone rang; a woman asked if I would come and share my testimony about the death of our son Todd with a women's group at her church. This would be an intimate setting in the lady's lounge.

I had shared my testimony once a couple weeks before. I only did that because an old friend had been bugging me for months to come and share. I am not a public speaker, and talking about the death of our son, Todd, in a car accident was not something I had ever thought about doing.

Honestly, when that night was over, I thought I would never be asked to talk about this tragedy again, even though I knew the Lord had brought a lot of good out of Todd's untimely death.

However, now I was on the phone with someone I did not know, asking me to share my testimony again. I wasn't sure what to say until I was told the date this women's group wanted me to come over.

Todd died in a car accident on February 6th. That said, February 6th can be an emotional day for me, so when this caller requested I come over in the evening on February 5th, I hesitated! I knew I would be feeling more emotional than usual. I certainly didn't want to cry in a group of women I didn't even know.

Then it hit me; I had told the Lord I would be available to do whatever He wanted me to do. So I could see I had a perfect excuse to get out of this, but somehow I knew I was supposed to accept the invitation.

I did share my testimony on February 5th with this lady's group even though I had a perfect excuse not to. It was a memorable evening. I felt their love and became close friends with many women in that church. In fact, I'm still friends with many of them today.