Unexpected Opportunities

During my Chick-fil-A years I had the privilege of working on some projects with Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. He had many famous sayings such as “If it is meant to be, it is up to me” and “How do you recognize someone who needs encouragement. That person is breathing.”

One of the things that I remember the most about him is how often he talked about “unexpected opportunities”. Just one example of hearing him use this phrase was when he bought a building in Fayetteville, Georgia, that had been a McAllister’s restaurant. He called the opportunity to buy that building an unexpected opportunity to open a restaurant he called Upscale Pizza.

Life is full of unexpected opportunities, and this past week I had one of those. A 93-year-old lady friend of our family called me. Since her number is in my contacts, when I answered I said, “Hello Marilyn.” She immediately began to tell me how sorry she was that so-and-so had passed away. I told her that I was sorry, but I did not understand who she was talking about. She said, “This is Joe --, isn’t it?” I told her no, and I identified myself and said how happy I was that she called me by mistake. She was beside herself and said that my name was next to Joe’s in her address book.

It was a busy day for me, but I let her talk all she wanted, and I made her believe that talking to her was the most important thing that I had on that day. We had a great visit. Among other things, she told me all about moving into an assisted living facility. She is on the fourth floor and has a corner room with a large picture window that overlooks a wooded area in Louisville, Kentucky. She described the view to me and told me that every day when she first sits down to enjoy the view, she sings a song. Marilyn asked me, “Do you know what song I sing,” and before I could guess she sang it to me over the phone.

“God’s beautiful world. God’s beautiful world. I love God’s beautiful world.  He made it for you; he made it for me. I love God’s beautiful world.” I have been singing that simple little song every day since I talked to Marilyn. It is a good reminder that God did an awesome job in creating some amazing scenery for us to enjoy. People travel all over the globe just to look at natural wonders created by our Heavenly Father.

When an unexpected opportunity comes your way, relax and enjoy the moment. You never know how much your reaction will be treasured by others or how much you might enjoy living out this opportunity.