Brainstorm

Hashem puts ideas into our minds.  Or He doesn't.  I saw that today.

I needed to get some items for a Kiddush to a certain shul before Shabbos.  I was told the shul is always open, but I was skeptical.   I was offered the text number of the gabbai and I took it, thinking I might need it to be in touch with him.

This morning (Friday), I traveled to a different neighborhood, which is rare for me to do on a Friday.  As I walked down the street, I unexpectedly encountered the wife of the gabbai who was giving out Shabbos candles to Russian women and any Jews who wanted them.  I said hello and walked on.

Then, it occurred to me - I should go back to her and give her the items I have for the Kiddush! As the gabbai's wife, that would work out perfectly.  And that's what I did, just as she was getting ready to leave.  I was happy with how that worked out and how Hashem had given me that idea.

A while later, as I sat waiting for a bus to go home, I thought - hey, when I gave her the items, she was packing up to go home.  To the same neighborhood as me.  Why didn't I ask her if she had room for me to join her in the car? Why am I sitting here waiting for bus #1 which will take me to where I get bus #2, when I could have been home already?

The answer: because Hashem did not give me that idea until it was too late. 

Now, it is possible that for whatever reason, a ride with her would not have worked, but I could have asked and found out.  Why do we sometimes have a brainstorm just in time and other times, we think of something and it's too late? I don't know.  But I do know that when ideas "pop" into our minds, the source is Hashem.