The story you are about to read is true.

There was a woman who spent an hour at an Adoration chapel on a Monday night. The whole time she was there, she kept praying that if God had a message for her, she would be open to hearing that message and responding generously to His holy will.

There was another woman, a Couple to Couple League promoter, who had recently become friends with the owner of a new Catholic supplies store in her town. The owner of the store, admittedly, was quite new to learning everything the Church teaches about artificial contraception, but she was sincere in her obedience to the Church. She was grateful to the CCL promoter for sharing her knowledge about Natural Family Planning and related topics.

The first woman was watching EWTN the very next morning after her holy hour. On that morning's program, the woman heard for the first time EVER that contraception is considered a grave sin. The woman, in her own words, "nearly dropped my Cheerios on the floor" because she had tried to live her life in obedience to God and His Church. She homeschools her 13-year-old daughter, prays the rosary every day, goes to confession, and makes a holy hour once a week in addition to many, many other Catholic Christian things.

The CCL promoter had attended a CCL chapter meeting the Friday evening prior to when the first woman went for her holy hour, exactly three days. The president of the chapter insisted that the promoter take home an NFP course kit in case someone in her area would need it. The promoter took the kit home just to make the president happy. The promoter did not think anyone would need it because in 13 years of promotion, she had only sold one kit from her home.

The first woman knew from the EWTN show, and by God's grace, that she and her husband needed to stop contracepting immediately. She also knew, by God's grace, that she needed to get to Confession that very day.

Two priests in the area had recently decided to make NFP instruction a normative part of their marriage preparation program. The older priest, by God's grace, had listened to his young associate regarding the matter. Both had great understanding of people in this area.

The woman, completely upset by her new knowledge of Church teaching, went straight to the phone book to search for a parish where she could go to Confession without being known. Out of the roughly 15 parishes in the area, she randomly selected the parish where the two aforementioned priests were serving, which happened to be the only parish in the city proper where the priests required Natural Family Planning.

On the way there, the woman prayed for a priest, who would lead her to the truth and that she would be able to handle that truth. The woman reached the older priest, who heard her confession and reassured her of God's forgiveness. He told her that now she must move forward and strive to be obedient to the Church in this area.

So, after Confession, the woman headed straight for the Catholic supplies store to get some answers about Natural Family Planning. The store owner wasn't sure what to do, so she sold the woman a copy of Natural Family Planning: Why It Succeeds by Herbert F. Smith, S.J. The woman asked her to call someone who knew about NFP, and the store owner said she would.

Since the store owner could not remember the last name of the promoter, she called the only Catholic in town whose last name she could remember. By God's grace, the Catholic knew the promoter, and called her to tell her about the upset woman who had just learned the truth about contraception from EWTN.

The CCL promoter then called the store in hopes of catching the upset woman, but she had just left the store. The owner filled the promoter in on the details and got permission from the promoter to give the woman her phone number. The owner promised to pray that the woman would have the courage to call the promoter.

Within 15 minutes of talking with the store owner, the upset woman called the promoter. The woman was understandably agitated and upset. She was afraid of how she was going to tell her husband. The promoter asked some questions and tried to help the woman put things in a positive perspective. The promoter reminded the woman that God had answered her very prayer, and that He had already blessed her with mountains of grace because she was able to hear God's message and act on it.

The woman said her husband would be way too shy to attend an NFP class. The promoter told her about the Home Study Course and quoted her the price. The woman wanted to know how to order it. Then the promoter suddenly remembered the Course Kit, which she had been urged to bring home from the chapter meeting. She told the woman about the kit, and she was relieved to be able to buy it immediately. She made arrangements to pick it up the next day at the promoter's home.

When the woman arrived, the promoter sat with her and pointed out the key chapters to help her get started. The woman then shared with the promoter that her husband had been very understanding. He had reassured his wife that they would do whatever it took to get right with God and the Church on this issue.

The promoter spent a long time pondering the wonders of God after everything that had happened. Simply put, God works in mysterious ways and in His own time. This time God heard the heartfelt prayer of a woman and, within 24 hours, turned her world upside down to answer that prayer in a very complete and specific way in order to turn her world right side up again.

Because of that woman's openness and obedience to the Father's will, lives will be forever changed for the good.

In retrospect, I guess I should say that "Obedience Is Everything (and Timing Helps)"!!!