Crossing Paths

I spoke to someone from a lifetime ago today. She’s dying and has been for two years. I was so humbled after the conversation that I had to blog about her. You see she kept saying how she believes people’s paths cross for a reason.

Now we hadn’t talked in years, and I was in fact quit surprised when she sent a friend request on Facebook awhile back. She and her husband are still married after more years than most last these days. We were never close or good friends. I knew her mostly because I taught her children as preschoolers in Sunday School (the kids came through our bus ministry.) And then I sold her Avon once in awhile.

Today for the first time I believe I got to really know her. She shared how she’d been raised a Nazarene preacher’s kid, rebelled as a teen, came back and rebelled again. Her life wasn’t an easy one, due a lot to choices she made. But her love for God is so deep today and radiates so brightly that I hope my little beacon is even a fraction of what she shines.

All of our kids have grown and moved on. I divorced; while she and her husband remain together and are both critically ill. Today she lives two doors from where we raised our family, and she said she thinks about me often. And I wondered why. But then again I think about one of her daughters periodically, even though it’s probably been 25 years.

I hope I was half the blessing she was to me today. She’s been told to put her affairs in order, which she is doing, with the faith that it’s too early to do such things. She’s younger than I, so way too young to die. But without insurance, she’s unable to receive the next treatment plan for her cancer…. I guess I have to agree with her in that God allows every one of our paths to cross for a reason. Today I took the time to thank Him for the many, many, many people whose path has crossed with mine. I think I’m going to pay a little better attention to those new paths from here on out.