A BLESSING IN DISGUISE
"Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and
knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger."
Saint Basil
Saint Basil
A story is told of an
unfortunate sailor who washed off his ship in a heavy storm and found himself
stranded on a deserted island. He expected to be quickly rescued but after a
few days realized that no one knew he was there. He set to work starting a fire,
building a little hut, and crafting some simple furnishings and tools to make
his life more comfortable. Months went by. One afternoon he returned from
foraging for food to find that his fire had destroyed his hut and all his
possessions. In anger he pounded the sand and cursed God for abandoning him.
In a few hours, however,
he was astonished to see an approaching ship coming to his rescue.
"How, after all this
time, did you find me?" he asked.
"We saw your signal
fire."
* * * *
I had a similar but far
less dramatic experience recently.
Several weeks ago we
scheduled and advertised a series of "Tax-Free Retirement Workshops"
on different dates in several locations around Central Florida. Each event
attracted a number of registrations, with the sole exception of the one at Lake
Nona. NOT ONE PERSON -
NOT A SINGLE SOUL - registered to attend that session. Previous
workshops in the Lake Nona location had been well attended. Residents of Lake
Nona were registering to attend the workshop, but in other locations.
Why was there no response? There was no plausible explanation. Puzzled and
disappointed, we cancelled that session.
As it turned out, the
intended date of that session was Thursday, October 6, 2016. On that evening
Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on Central Florida. If that workshop had
remained on the calendar, we would have had a real mess on our hands. Instead,
we were free to focus on keeping our families and homes safe. Someone, it
seems, was looking out for us.
* * * *
Sometimes blessings come in strange packages that look like
punishments or setbacks. Sometimes we are being cared for when we think no one
cares. Perhaps we are always being showered with tender mercies that our
physical eyes are unable to see.
Scott Farnsworth is an Attorney at Law and a Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and President of two companies: SunBridge, Inc. - An international advisory group for financial advisors and estate planning attorneys and Personal Asset Advisors - a Central Florida based retirement planning group. He is an expert on Social Security Maximization and Tax-Free Retirement. Feel free to email Scott at any time to help you with your needs.
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