There’s a story I’d like to share.\u00a0 It’s about a woman who’s in the prime of her life.\u00a0 She has a leadership role in the company she works for and seems to really like her job.\u00a0 She has an adorable young son who seems to be the apple of her eye.\u00a0 She’s beautiful and energetic and most kind.\u00a0 And her kindness is sort of where this story all begins.\u00a0 Once upon a time (as in a few months ago), there was a most talkative “older” woman who’s a rather pitiful shopper (because she really hates it) and who, out of sheer necessity, was on the hunt for school supplies.\u00a0 And it was during this hunt that another woman, the woman this story is principally about, just happened to be working out of town in an office supply store.<\/p>\n
The talkative woman, along with her 10-year old daughter, was getting rather flustered trying to find everything on the school list when this other woman kindly offered to help.\u00a0 And help she certainly did–everything on the list was quickly taken care of.\u00a0 And it was just then, as the smiles and “thank you” and “you’re welcome” were exchanged, that the woman being helped spontaneously said something like, “So, I went through blood cancer when my little girl was five and had a bone marrow transplant; now I write and speak about it.\u00a0 In fact, one of the reasons I came in today was to pick up my cards.\u00a0 Here’s one if you’re interested or know anyone who might be.”\u00a0 And that was it–or so both women thought.<\/p>\n
A few weeks later, around mid-October (the story began in July), the talker\/pitiful shopper was at a different store in a return line.\u00a0 As she finished up and started to walk away, again with her little girl, she saw a woman who seemed to be waiting for her.\u00a0 At first, though she did recognize her, she couldn’t remember where she knew her from.\u00a0 After all, she’d begun to speak to groups about a year and a half ago and had been introduced to many new people.\u00a0 Thus, her first thought was that this woman was from one of the audiences.\u00a0 She quickly realized she was wrong when the woman told her that she just happened to be passing through town again and was hoping she might be able to get another card.<\/p>\n
The two women marveled together at the fact that their paths would cross again–two different places, two different points in time.\u00a0 Then, just as the woman who had handed out her card began to wonder silently in her mind why this other woman would stick around waiting for her to finish just to get another card, she heard some words like, “So, not long after we met I went to the doctor to have a couple of things checked out and I found out that I actually have lymphoma.\u00a0 I’m not sure what type yet.\u00a0 I’ll know soon.”\u00a0 The “talker” suddenly found herself speechless, a surprising state for her.\u00a0 And when they parted ways that day, I’m confident they were filled with emotions too hard to capture with words.<\/p>\n
Anyone who knows me well has probably already guessed that I’m the talker\/pitiful shopper; and that other woman, well, she is now a brand new friend.\u00a0 We don’t live close by one another, so I can’t exactly be by her side.\u00a0 But, I can pray regularly for her as she goes through a very challenging season of life.\u00a0 When I was in such a season, I remember feeling as if I was suspended in time while all of those around me were moving right along still doing their “thing.”\u00a0 I was her same age when I first heard the words “blood cancer,” and my little girl was the exact same age her son is now.\u00a0 My treatment began around Thanksgiving; and hers begins this week.\u00a0 Yes, this really is a true story; and yes, it is uncanny–all of it.<\/p>\n
We’re all so very connected down here.\u00a0 And I’m thankful for that.\u00a0 I’m thankful for her, my new friend.\u00a0 I’m thankful our paths crossed, not once but twice.\u00a0 I’m thankful that I’m a talker and a lousy shopper and that she’s so very kind and helpful and that I had a box full of cards that day when we first met.\u00a0 I’m thankful that she has a lot of great friends close by her helping her through this and that she’s been given an awesome prognosis (curable!).\u00a0 I’m thankful for the privilege of praying for her and her family as she moves forward this week and takes the next steps in the process of her total healing.\u00a0 And I’m so very thankful that God, the author of what we call “coincidences,” hears every single one of our prayers.<\/p>\n
While I’m not going to share my new friend’s name or any other details about her as this is her story to tell, I believe God knows her name all too well; and I’m hoping that any and all of my friends\/readers will join me in praying for her over the next several months.\u00a0 Her sick season should be over around the same time that the winter thaw is, and she can then “spring” into a brand new life.\u00a0 Cancer is not the end of anything; I choose to view it instead as the beginning–the beginning of a new and even better life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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