My Friday Night Story - Part 1

I'm breaking this post up into a few parts because after I put it up here, I realized that it's too long to read at once...

These stories don’t happen to me! I’m telling you! I know I’m Chaya Sara’s sister, but this story is the type to happen to her not to me!!
Anyway, you just see how Hashem is in charge of every little detail of what happens and every minute of your day…

Last week (not this past week, but the week before), I was having a very busy erev Shabbos and my younger sister, Elisheva, called me when I was super busy to ask me if she can come visit me on Friday night. She was planning to come right before candle-lighting when it’s not-yet-dark outside and then she would need to be taken home because in order to walk from my house to my mother, you need to pass through a not-so-safe neighborhood. I was waaaay too tired so I told her that it wouldn’t really work for me since I had a very exhausting week so maybe she’d come another week.
Well, a few minutes after I lit candles, I heard someone coming up the stairs. I went to answer the door and who was standing there? My sister, Elisheva! She was puffing and panting and said, “You don’t understand what happened!!” And then she started to tell me:

I was walking with mommy to come visit you (she must’ve really wanted to come visit me, because she came up with her own plan, walk with mommy and so she’d have someone to walk home with!) and as we were walking, we saw a girl (who was obviously not religious) carrying a bag. She asked us, “Is it shabbos yet?” (sounds like that book…Is it Shabbos Yet?!) and mommy said, “Yes, but let me help you. You look lost!”
So this girl said that she was supposed to be eating by someone but I lost their address. So my mother, being the tzadekes that she is, stayed with this girl to try to help her find her place. Together, they knocked on the door of someone on that block to try to get the address of the family this girl was supposed to eat by. In the meantime, Elisheva came to my house and told me a little bit about the girl they had met. She was reform, never kept shabbos before and her train got delayed and here she was, roaming the streets, trying to find someone to help her. Once she met my mother, the two of them started on their search.

Elisheva was very worried about my mother. They had gone a few blocks away from my house, where the not-so-safe neighborhood gets even worse to try to find this family. Elisheva kept peeking out of the window, opening my door and trying to listen out for my mother, hoping she was okay. I kept calming her down. Finally, after what felt like a long wait, there was a knock on my door…this time it was my mother and the girl she had met.

Now, before I continue my story, I want to just describe to you what this girl looked like, just so you can get a better picture of where she is coming from. She was wearing bright red lipstick, a bright orange long-sleeved t-shirt (and when I say bright, I mean bright, like the type that you need to squint when you look at her, it was so bright!), a flairy mid-length denim skirt (She said it’s the longest skirt she has!), lots of (gold) necklaces of different lengths, a bunch of bracelets, multi-colored sneakers that lace up to the middle of her leg, and carrying a backpack. I don’t know if this describes her well, but this can definitely give you a start.

I welcomed them in, had them sit down on the couch and listened. They ended up knocking on the door of a family with the same last name - but not the family they were looking for. They had walked in the freezing cold and now they were stuck. They guessed that this person was not listed in the phone book and came to me. The girl made herself comfortable and started telling us a little bit about herself and about how sorry she felt that she wouldn’t be able to join that family for the meal. In my head, I was already planning the rest of her shabbos for her. She’d eat the meal at my house and I’d ask my neighbor if she could sleep in their guest room. I hadn’t prepared extra food and since we are only a family of two who eat (my baby’s food is of a different sort!), and I was not sure what we’d do. I figured we’d do the best we can, I definitely have enough challah and dips and salad but when I prepare for two, I already know how much we eat. Well, Hashem runs the world and we just got to see it so clearly!!! We can try to plan but the One Above has everything all planned out for us!!