Two weeks were all that was needed to produce a lifesaving moment. That moment came in the mid-1990s, after I met a business acquaintance.

I estimate that I was no older than four when Jack came into our home and into my life. I can’t clearly remember a time that he wasn’t there. When he was drunk, Jack was violent and abusive.

Having our four grandkids spend the weekend is all fun and games until someone needs a paramedic at midnight. That someone was Paige, a huggable little first-grader only two weeks past her sixth birthday.

The radio broadcast beamed from a low-powered AM station, and the words reached my ears. They have played in my mind for nearly forty years. The words I heard that day came from the pen of a lonely prison inmate and resounded with enough conviction to penetrate my soul.

Terminated! Yep, true story. I was fired from my job. There was little consolation in knowing the occurrence was unjust; the result was the same. With a jolt to my senses and an undeniable dent in my career, I was put out of work. And God was okay with it. In fact, it was His idea.

When I heard Mary’s voice echo in my ears, “God bless you and keep you!” I knew immediately that an unseen hand had nudged me because of those words.