Hope from a Chance Encounter

Have you ever had a chance meeting with someone, and afterward knew in your heart that God had placed that person in your path?

I was walking through the main hallway at church during services. No one else was around when I ran into him, a friend I knew from church. A friend, I knew, who was dealing with a deadly disease, just as I was.

He had found so many healthful ways to improve his lifestyle and health through the practice of yoga and eating well. I wanted to know this wellness, and use it for the battle I was facing. I wanted to use healthful choices instead of drugs, and I was uncertain of following the doctor’s path of medication and treatments.

But this friend got my attention and made me listen. He told me that the healthful choices would be good for me, but first I had to use everything in my power to stop the disease. He knew the aggressiveness of the enemy battling inside me. He helped me to understand that I had to first use all of my arsenal to stop the progress of the disease. Then, I could choose healthful ways for my lifestyle that would improve my overall quality of life and health going forward.

In hindsight, I know God put my friend in my path that day. I had difficult decisions to make and I needed to talk to someone even though I had not realized it. God placed me in the hallway at the precise time to run into my friend, and equipped him with the words I needed to hear.

Sometimes it just happens that way.

Just the other week I was at church, in the same main hallway on a weekday, and ran into a dear friend whom I haven’t seen in awhile. We chatted about many things, and then the conversation turned more serious. I shared with her about issues that were tucked away in my heart, and I cried and we embraced and the encounter was so incredibly meaningful and helpful to me. I hope it was for her, too. And I know God placed us in the same place on that day for a reason, to be there for each other.

Some may say things happen for a reason. Some are as assured of coincidental happenings as others are of fate. I know the feeling I have after sharing time with an amazing person who takes the time to really hear me. It is a gift. I feel renewal and connectedness, and go forward with gratefulness that I have been given the gift of friendship.

I can only hope that I have been that person for someone else when they needed a friend. The gift of ourselves is the sweetest present we can give. Sharing our time, and a little bit of our heart, spreads God’s love beyond ourselves.

As someone receives our gift of love, they will know His peace, and be ready to go forward to share love with someone else. In this way we fulfill the destiny of human kind. We never know how far a kindness will reach, and sometimes, that kindness is given to us. And that is truly a reason to be thankful.