They say things come in 3's. Maybe so. We had a leaking outdoor faucet, a leaking indoor faucet, and someone busted out the back window of our van. I mentioned something about this on Facebook, and a not-so-well-intentioned dragon named Laurie W. replied, "Maybe there's a hidden message in this...." Well, I think I discovered it.

I scheduled the plumber to come out last Tuesday, but he was so late getting to my house that the parts store he needed to go to was closed. A little disappointing, but no big deal. I rescheduled the repairs for Monday morning.

As he was working on Monday, we were talking about different things. I told him that I am a pastor, and he said that he was a Christian and what church he attended. When he was finished with the repairs, he said, "Can I ask you a question? I've got a situation. My daughter is in her early 20's, and her best friend is about the same age. Her friend is single, and she just found out she is pregnant. At first she was going to keep the baby, but now she tells me that she's going to have an abortion. She knows that I'm against the idea, and she wants to talk to me about it tonight. She's always looked up to me as a father figure, but I don't know what to say to her. Do you have any advice?"

I told him that if she had already decided to have the abortion, she wouldn't want to talk to him. She's coming to him because she's still deciding what to do. Everything is piling up on her: the cost of raising a baby; the pressures of motherhood; the uncertainty about the future; and so on. She's beginning to think that the "easiest" thing to do is get rid of the "problem." But I've known many women who have regretted having an abortion and none who regretted having the baby.

She needs to talk to some people with a lot of knowledge and resources about abortion alternatives. I mentioned the Mend Pregnancy Resource Center, with which our Women's Ministry partners. He said he would go by there today and get some information to give her.

A few thoughts about the "hidden message":

• God's Spirit is at work at all times and in all places. It is our job to look for where He is at work and join Him there.

• God is in control. If the plumber was not late for the first appointment, he would have fixed the problem before he knew about the pregnancy; and I never would have been able to tell him about Mend Pregnancy Resource Center.

• Money doesn't matter--people do. Was it worth a $200 plumbing bill to (possibly) save a baby? Absolutely!

• Keeping your cool when difficulties hit allows you to maintain your witness for Christ. I didn't keep my cool because I knew that God would have a divine appointment for me, but because I simply have a biblical perspective on both money and trials.

Was there a hidden message in my difficulties? Yes. Difficulties happen. It rains on the just and the unjust. The question is what you allow God to make of them.