God Works In Mysterious Ways

Have you ever done something so embarassing you wanted to crawl under a rock and hide?  I did that about a year ago.  I had gone to work out in the therapy pool at the health club.  When I dried off I picked up the paper.  For some reason I went to the obituary section.  Thank God I didn't see my name!  But what I saw and what I did was a huge misunderstanding and caused a lot of panic.  The name that caught my eye was Margaret Pedigo Vaughn.  As I started reading I noticed that she had a daughter named Sherry.  I started feeling really bad.  I said "Lord, what can I do".  Sherry Pedigo is a friend of mine.  She's an actress in Hollywood who stunt doubles for Jane Seymour.  She is a singer and I met her through Cowboy Church in Nashville TN.  Anyway, God told me to go to the funeral home that night and minister to the family with my poem "Message From A Loved One".  Being the obedient child of God I was I went to the funeral home.  But before I went, when I got home from the health club I got on the internet & sent an email to several of my friends that Sherry's mother had died.  It's amazing how quick news travels!  One thing led to another and before I knew it the music coordinator for Cowboy Church called Sherry and offered his deepest sympathy.  She was obviously freaking out.  Well, I went on to the funeral home that night.  When I walked in I didn't see anyone I knew.  I didn't recognize the lady in the casket but then again I'd never seen Sherry's mother.  After wandering around like I knew what I was doing one of the attendants came to me and asked me if I was looking for one of the family.  I told him I was looking for Sherry.  He said she would be there the next day as she had to fly in from Atlanta.  That made sense to me. He showed me to one of her brothers named Terry.  I went and we talked and I shared with him my poem.  He was grateful and shared it with his family.  Then he said the funeral was the next day at 11:00 AM in the chapel.  He asked me if I could come back for the service and after that I could talk to Sherry.  I said of course.  I got there the next morning just before the service and sat on the back row.  They rolled in the casket followed by the family.  I saw Terry but I didn't see Sherry.  I thought maybe I just didn't recognize her because I had not seen her in a few years.  I sat throught service which lasted about 20 minutes.  Then I followed them to the cemetery which was about 20 minutes away.  It was held in a mosuleum so we sat through another brief service.  Then they sealed her in the wall.  After a few minutes I went to Terry and told him again I was sorry for his loss.  He then asked me if I talked to Sherry.  I told him I had not seen her.  Well, he looked at me like I'd taken leave of my senses.  He pointed to this lady and said, "there she is right there".  When I turned to see the lady pure panic began to take over me. I HAD NEVER SEEN THAT WOMAN BEFORE IN MY LIFE!"  This Sherry was tall, slim and blonde.  The Sherry I know was short and had dark hair.  So I did the only thing I could think of.  I kind of stood at a distance and thank God she was talking to other people.  So I acted like I knew what I was doing and walked around the inside looking at the grave markers.  Then I slowly made my way out the back door and came home as fast as I could.  I felt like such an idiot!  I asked the Lord on my way back, "What on earth have I done!".  All I heard from him was the sound of laughter!  As soon as I got back I called one of my friends and told him STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!  I HAD THE WRONG FAMILY... By that time it was too late.  The word had been spread that Sherry's mother had passed away.  Then soon after that I got an email from another friend that told me Sherry's mom was fine.  She had just talked to her. Then I remembered my friend spells her name Sheri and her last name is Pedigo.  The next day I went to her website and told her how sorry I was for starting such a rumor.  To my great relief she told me not to worry about it.  She said she was just touched that I cared so much.  I will NEVER live that one down!  When I told my stepfather about it he got hysterical.  Not long after that when I was talking to him I told him I'd been to another funeral and he said "Did you know the family this time!?"  So I have been nicknamed by my friends as THE FUNERAL CRASHER!  Later that night the Lord stopped laughing long enough to tell me that I had done what He told me to do.  He told me to go and minister and that's what I did.  Now I see the humor in that situation.  When it happened I felt so stupid!  But God meant it for good and He received the glory and honor...after He stopped laughing!