A hunch...

or a message from God?

Maybe we should pay more attention to “hunches”... and maybe sometimes they really could be a message from God.

Even if they are just “little things” - not important.

We were invited out to a dinner party and I thought it would be nice to bring a little gift for the hostess.

But then my next thought was: “I don’t think she likes anything I bring so why bother?”

Followed by this response: “But it’s the nice thing to do... and maybe sometime I’ll pick the right gift!” You know how the pattern goes.

Picking the gift...

One thought kept repeating in my mind - “get flowers”. And another one was... “not chocolate.” Well, this didn’t seem too difficult - although I love chocolate.

These thoughts kept circling in my mind like a merry-go-round that doesn’t stop... “flowers - not chocolate - flowers - not chocolate”, etc.

Finally it was time to go and I figured I had it settled. On the way we’d get flowers.

The store had some beautiful cut flowers and plants. But either they did not seem right, had few blossoms or they were too expensive.

I didn’t have time to waste making the decision and then I saw sitting near the flowers some fancy chocolates! I took them. (I know - one of the thoughts in my head had been “Not chocolates.” But that thought was probably not right. Right?)

A warning here?

I took the box to the check-out counter. The cashier took a look at it and said something about it being nice and then she read the tiny warning on the label suggesting that people should be careful if they are allergic to pine nuts. Now how many times does a cashier read the warning to you? I’d never had this happen before. But I just chalked it up as interesting and bought the chocolates.

We arrived at our destination and walked into a lovely atmosphere of festivities. I gave my gift to the hostess and joined the other guests in conversation.

It was a half hour or so later that I accidentally overheard the hostess say to someone that she was allergic to “pine nuts”. I don’t know why I overheard that particular piece of information since I was several feet away listening to another conversation.

But then I realized that I had again brought the wrong gift!

I left my group and went to explain to her that she had better not eat the chocolates I had brought. Her husband grinned and said not to worry, he would!

How many warnings?

So, did I learn a lesson?

Well... how often do you get a hunch that says not to do something followed by a person reading a warning to you?

I hope I listen better next time.

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