Praying for Time

I live in an apartment complex where most people keep to themselves. When people talk to me, they mostly comment on my dog Katie or the weather.

Some new neighbors moved in downstairs a few months ago (with a dog named Luna-I know people by their pets). The man and woman were from out of state and didn’t know the area, so we talked about things to do in North Little Rock. They also asked about churches and I told them about mine and that they could go with me anytime.

The next week, I found a note on my door from the woman, Amber. She said she stayed in the apartment all day while her boyfriend was at work and she could really use a friend. I was impressed by the honesty of the note and I called her that night. We went to lunch the next week. Turns out Amber’s life had been completely different from mine. She had lots of medical issues and had lost custody of her children due to that. But she was getting back on some of her medication and was interested in going to school to learn a trade and get a job. She was getting her life back on track. And I was on a mission to help her do that.

Then I didn’t see Amber for about a week. I called her about going to lunch again and never got a call back.

Amber died last Friday. She had gotten her medication and apparently had taken too much. I was shocked and so sad. She had planned to turn her life around. I guess we all think we have time to change things. The truth is we don’t have as much control as we think. It’s frightening.