Does God Arrange Our Meetings

Those who know me know how shy I am. For me to simply go up to a stranger and start a conversation is very unlikely. But on our recent visit to Ft. Worth Texas I did exactly that. The Stinson’s, Sherri and I were at Sundance Square in downtown Ft. Worth. We were trying to find a place to get some coffee and something sweet to eat.

David, Christi, and Sherri were looking at one of those large maps posted in the square. I was standing off to myself just watching the people traffic when I noticed a young policeman. He too was watching the pedestrian traffic, but for a different reason than me. A group of tourist passed by on Segways. After he watched them go by I walked over to him and said, “That’s what you need for patrolling this area.” He replied, “We’ve got some of them, but I use a bicycle. It’s a lot better for what I do.” I mentioned how much the downtown had changed since I lived there in the 1980’s. We hadn’t talked very long before I realized he was a Believer. In fact, he had just finished seminary at Southwestern, the same seminary I attended.

His name is Mark. Mark and I had much more in common. He wants to be a pastor, and is now serving in a small church plant in Ft. Worth. He doesn’t get paid at the church, so besides working as a policeman he does security work for the Bass Brothers Corporation. He works in the same buildings I worked in when I was employed in the Bass mailroom. As we continued to talk I found out that before moving to Ft. Worth he had lived in a small town outside of Raleigh not too far from where I live. He had married a girl from South Carolina, and she worked in the Raleigh area. Finally, Mark and I discovered that we both grew up in Kentucky. He was from Barboursville.

I am always excited to meet someone from Kentucky. Even if they don’t live close to my hometown of Russellville, I feel like I’ve met somebody from home. Mark seemed excited when I told him where I was from. I don’t know, but I think my meeting with my new policeman friend was encouraging to him. He asked me what I was doing in retirement. I said, “I guess you can call me a writer.” I mentioned my blog, and told him about my book. He wanted to know the name of my book, and said he would like to look it up. I got his address so that I could send him a copy which I did this morning. Maybe my book will help him in some way as he is beginning his ministry.

I enjoyed meeting and talking to Mark. I don’t know for sure, but somehow I think God planned that little meeting between one old Kentuckian and one young Kentuckian. I will probably never see Mark again in this world, but when I see him in heaven we will have something to talk about, and maybe I will learn why God wanted us to meet at Sundance Square in Ft. Worth Texas.