When Fate Steps In

At work last week, I was fortunate enough to meet a couple from Texas and their adorable granddaughter that were visiting Beverly Hills.  They were incredibly nice, which is something quite refreshing, and they let their granddaughter order chocolate cake for lunch, so right aways I love them. We started talking quite a bit about life when the man asked me what my tattoo meant.  I told him it meant fate, and he asked me what that meant to me.  I told him that it meant I was supposed to meet them that day because we always end up exactly where we’re meant to be, at exactly the time we’re meant to be there.  This is how God works, to me.

They were a very religious couple, and we started speaking a lot about God and what His plans are for all of us.  I told them I’d been feeling a bit mis-guided and lost, and wasn’t sure which direction my life would go.  The man said that it was fate that we met that day.  That God meant for us to meet, because he really didn’t want to come into the restaurant, his wife did.  He was so against it that he told me he actually rebelled the only way he could – by wearing jeans instead of khakis!!! But, that as soon as they met me, he knew exactly why they came to the restaurant that day.  Our conversation was incredibly comforting, and I felt so much better after having met them.  I”m not very religious, but this was something else entirely.   This odd comfort.  I left work feeling like, yet again, I”d met people exactly when I needed them most. They said they’d try to come back later in the week to see me.

Flash forward, it’s now Saturday, my day off.  For various reasons I won’t get into, I’ve had an incredibly yucky, lonely, depressed day (hey, why sugar coat? I’ve got a point to make here!).  Mostly, incredibly lonely.  The physical distance between me and my loved ones has never seemed greater.  A sweet co-worker friend of mine called and told me that a family from Texas had left a gift for me at the restaurant if I wanted to come pick it up.  I knew immediately who the family was and curiosity got the better of me. I decided to go see what they’d left.  I opened the Nordstrom bag to find a thick copy of the Bible.  Once I was back comfortably in my car, I opened the front cover because I knew I’d find something there, and sure enough a card from them was stuck into the binding.  It read:

Ashley-

We really enjoyed visiting with you the other day at ___________! We’ve been praying for you and wanted to give you the Bible.  We think you’ll enjoy! Look up two of our favorite versus – Matthew 6:33 and Jeremiah 29:11.

God Bless,

Your New Friends From Texas

I looked up each verse, as they’d requested, and immediately felt comforted.  Tears sprang to my eyes. Goose bumps dotted my arms.  How has this force (which at this point, I’m convinced is God) once again brought these people into my life when I needed it most?  Along with this, a steady stream of phone calls and messages from my sweet friends and family today have let me know that God wants me to know I’m not alone at all.  I’m actually very much surrounded by love, and love doesn’t necessarily have to be seen to be felt.  I so very, very, very much wish I could thank this kind family for this gift they’ve given me.  I’ve never considered myself to be religious, but I can’t deny the comfort and love and faith this has made me feel.

I’ll be asking God to give them a sign that I’ve received their gift and put its words to good use, and I’ll be praying for only great things to come their way as well.  I don’t know if my prayers are heard, but I do know, now more than ever, that it can’t hurt.

 

Thank you, sweet strangers for your thoughtful gift.

Thank you, sweet friends for bombarding me with phone calls without knowing how badly I needed them.

Thank you, family, for being so amazing that I miss you this much every day.

Thank you, boyfriend, for sitting on the front steps as I came home and insisting on hugging me so hard.

Thank you, co-workers for hugging me as I came in today.

Thank you,

thank you,

thank you.

 

– A