Saturday, December 10, 2011

Serendipity


Serendipity:  the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident
(Wikipedia online dictionary)
Serendipity: the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by divine appointment
(M. Switzer's definition)
Events yesterday, which I will get to in a minute, reminded me of another similar event that happened some time ago.  Because my travels with the M&M's sometimes run together, I am almost positive that the picture is from the trip I want to share.  If the waves do not suffice, then my wild and woolly hair will attest to the blowing in of tropical storm Isadore.  I believe it was after showing Mr. Lincoln this picture that he suggested we not take any more pictures of ourselves.  While I often take his advice, I have not heeded that piece.

Several years ago,  the M&M's were traveling to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  I do not remember why we left Nashville in the afternoon instead of the morning.  I simply know that as we were traveling around midnight, down a dark and winding backroad, with the gas gauge needle on E, looking for Gulf Shores (a fairly popular vacation destination that at least 3 of the 4 of us had driven to and visited before) we passed a sign that said "Welcome to Florida."  Somewhere, we had taken a wrong turn.  We really needed some gas, so we traveled a bit further into Florida until we came to a well-lit Circle K or 7 Eleven, or perhaps an off-brand of the genre.  Whatever, we knew it had gas, food, and a bathroom.

Working, alone, in the store was a very young woman.  The mother in each of us rose to the surface.  Who on earth would let their daughter work this late at night in such an establishment on such a dark road in the middle of nowhere?  Now, in all fairness we may have been just a block or two from a town square, I do not know.  Did I mention that it was dark?  As we talked to the girl, and of course 4 middle-aged women are going to chat up anyone we meet, especially under these circumstances, we learned that the girl was quite frightened.  She had within the past 10 minutes or so witnessed a drug deal in the parking lot of the market.  She had called the police, but they had not arrived.  So, being the fearless women we are, we decided that we would stay with the girl until the police arrived or until her shift was over.  We stayed, if my memory serves, about an hour. 

I am fairly certain that if the drug dealer and buyer returned to the store with mischief on their minds, we quite possibly would not have been as effective in repelling them as we imagined.  There may have been some quoting of scriptures, or some "now, dahlin' whatcha wanta use drugs for, precious," or "sweetheart, let me give you a hug and let's talk about it."  On second thought, maybe we would have been quite effective.  Neither the drug dealer nor the police showed up while we were there, but after an hour with the M&Ms' protection, the girl assured us that she felt much better and that we could go on our way.  Looking back, she may have just grown weary of our incessant chatter.  I don't know.  But, what I do know, is we were divinely placed there that night to comfort that young girl.  She shared her story, which, sadly, I do not really remember, got her mind off her fear, and was able to continue with her work.  It was a serendipity for us ~ a reminder that we have the opportunity to  "entertain angels unaware" if we just keep our eyes open and see.   I know we were blessed, and I believe we were a blessing.


Yesterday, a somewhat similar serendipity happened.  MP knew that I was spending the day with Carol and Sue.  The plan was to go to Springfield and knock around in antique stores as well as having lunch at 5 Chefs in Portland.  A perfect plan.  MP asked if she could go with us.  Of course, I knew that Sue and Carol would not mind her tagging along.  Actually, I knew they would enjoy her being with us.  What could be better?  A day with friends and my precious daughter.  One of the things I love about going with Sue and Carol is they can hang by the seat of their pants and veer from the plan.  We decided that Portland would be our first stop so we shopped a little there and had lunch.  We all really enjoyed our lunch, but that piece of Hummingbird cake just about pushed me over the edge.  I believe my body is wishing I would go on a fast, but it will remain disappointed.   As usual, I digress.

After lunch it was decided that we would go to Lebanon to hit the antique shops there, and save Springfield for another day.  Carol was fairly certain she knew how to get from Portland to Lebanon as she had seen a sign to Gallatin and figured we would go through it to get to our intended destination.  I rarely offer advice on directions as I am so pitifully challenged in that area.  Apparently, Carol misremembered where that sign to Gallatin was as we ended up on some road that was devoid of "Gallatin" or "Lebanon" signs.  She stopped and calculated her GPS with Sue's help, and we continued on.  You know the old adage, you can always get there from here...and, you can, oftentimes with much more enjoyment than if the "correct" route had been followed. 

We traveled through beautiful Middle Tennessee scenery.  We saw wonderful old barns, beautiful streams, charming houses and beatiful vistas.  As we were traveling through the Cottontown area (heard of it ~ first time to visit) I happened to see a sign that said "Salt Box Antiques."  It was a big, hand-painted sign with a huge arrow on it and a smaller part that said "7th house on the left."  I mentioned it, we decided to turn back and check it out.  Apparently, my challenge with directions also means I cannot tell in which direction an arrow is pointing as we turned in the wrong direction on Raymond Hodges Road.  Not only was there no 7th house on the left, there was no 1st house on the left, but the horse farm and lovely homes on the right made our wrong turn quite welcome.

We turned around and went down the proper side of the road.  Sure enough, as we childlike counted the houses "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, wait a minute.  That's a saltbox house but it is number 6.  Do you think they were counting that little house/barn like thing?  There's no sign in the yard.  But look at the building in the back.  That could have antiques.  Let's pull in."  MP is looking a little incredulous, and it is obvious that neither Carol nor Sue are going to go knock on the door.  Since I was the one who saw the sign, I felt that it was my responsibility to check things out.   This saltbox house is beautiful.  The grounds and deck...everything is just lovely.  So, I figure that surely nice people live here.  By the side door there was a sign that said, "The Browns," so I rang the doorbell, and as I waited for a response, I looked through the windows and observed a wonderful home. 

In a few minutes a gentleman came to the door.  I asked if he was the one who sold antiques and was he open.  He told me to hang on a minute, grabbed his key and coat as I went to inform my cohorts that we were at the right spot and Mr. Brown was going to let us in.  Oh, my goodness.  The antiques he had in that building were incredible.  He buys them in New England and then refinishes them. He reworks the drawers on chests so that they glide with ease.  The building was artfully arranged and wonderfully welcoming. 

Of course, we began to chat.  It turns out that Mr. Brown's wife, Judy, has stage 4 colon cancer.  She had her first chemo treatment the day before.  He was glad to say that she was doing well, and had not suffered many side-effects yet.  He described her surgery and shared the fact that she has about 50 tumors.  His statements were a bit paradoxical as he would comfort himself with assurances that medicines now are much better than years before and then say, "if we make it until April, we will celebrate our 53rd anniversary," indicating his fear that those medicines won't work for his beloved Judy. 

Did I see that sign accidentally?  No I did not.  We were supposed to meet Mr. Brown yesterday.  I have no idea why.  Carol did buy a copper kettle and an old colander for her antique booth.  I asked Mr. Brown if he would be comfortable with my putting his wife on the prayer list at church.  He assured me that he would greatly appreciate it.  Maybe knowing that people he will never know or meet will be praying for him and his wife brought him some comfort.  I assume he shared his visit with Judy, and perhaps, in the midst of a confusing and difficult time, she too will gain some comfort from those prayers.   Who "entertained angels unaware?"  I do not know.  I am just glad that the four of us took that turn off the main road to find that saltbox house that is filled with love in the midst of trial.  Our lives would have been a bit diminished had we not gone there, and we would have never known it. 

Serendipity ~ the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident or divine appointment?  You choose.  But for today, I wish you wonderful serendipitous events, and I wish you

blessings


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