Favorite Encounters

I don’t work full or part time any longer. I left a part time position in 2012 and find at my current age it’s great to be home. Although not idle by any means, I fill my weekly calendar with volunteer work at my church during the work week and weekends. I care for grandchildren when needed, perform routine chores such as housework and errands outside the home, cook meals, clean up our house, all the “things” it takes to run a household whether working for income or not. Because I no longer “work” getting out and about whether it’s church or shopping keeps me connected to people and gives me opportunities for conversations which leads me to today’s topic–Favorite Encounters.

I need to give you some background information about me. Up until I was about 15 I was awkwardly shy. Most of my social life centered around family, church, and school.Though I was comfortable with family and close friends, I didn’t talk a lot with people I didn’t know. The awkwardness began to fade about my sophomore year in high school and as years passed I gained confidence as I graduated, attended business college and landed my first full time employment position. Fast forward from my 20s to my current age of 67, take a peek into those years and you’ll find many times I experienced some pretty neat encounters with complete strangers. Some were by no effort on my part, others were on purpose or encouraged by how I have learned to listen to someone and their choice of words when conversing with me. I love striking up conversations with complete strangers regardless of gender, age, ethnicity. I have found people are people wherever I go. So, I’d like to tell you about Beata. I met her last Friday during a trip to a beautiful market we seldom visit because it’s a good 45 minutes or so from our home.

My husband and I were having a “day date Friday” and after finishing our meal (which was delicious by the way!) we drove to this market where I intended to purchase a variety of apples to make sauce, one of my favorite fall activities. I filled my small cart with the apples and other produce selections and made my way to the coffee aisle in search of my husband. Along the way I found an area of the market I did not know existed–oodles of flavored vinegars and olives oils! I circled the shelves of the luscious containers looking at all the varieties and that’s when I saw a small woman about my age filling a bottle with an oil. Now, mind you, my motive in speaking with her was merely to glean information from her since I’m a newbie to all this “fill your bottle/cork it/label it” kind of stuff so to jumpstart my curiosity I said politely “So, excuse me–what’s your favorite oil?” That’s all it took! That one question turned into a wonderful conversation and soon I shared with her that this “market” reminded me of one we had visited on our trip to Israel. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I want to go there someday!” She asked me my name and I hers. “Susan”….”Beata”…and I inquired as to the origin of her name. “Deutsch,” she told me. Hmmmm, I quickly told her I am German, too. I asked her the meaning of her name. “Blessed” was her response along with her own question, “Susan, can I pray for you?” And pray she did, right next to the flavored olive oils, no one else around to eavesdrop, as if that would have bothered us. Clearly, she was as comfortable as I was in the midst of how God can create an atmosphere that exudes His presence accompanied by brief, polite conversation.  In turn, I asked if I could pray for her and she accepted. As we ended with our “amens” she continued to instruct me on the benefits of using the olive oils when preparing healthy meals.

I love divine appointments which is how I describe grocery store conversations that introduce me to a brother or sister in Christ that I may never see again even though a moment in time created a faith marker or memory in my mind. I have had many such encounters and I actually think I’ll write about more of them over the next few weeks. For now, I’m still smiling as I think of Beata, a kind small German woman who came to America at the age of two, who told me she became a naturalized citizen, and above all else, entered into a relationship with Christ that bridges her and me from our time here on earth to eternity. It may be trite to say “I may never see her again here on earth, but in Heaven I will”…..I’m not sure how God has it worked out in Heaven for all of us when we arrive. Will I meet up with Beata again?  I know she, me, and everyone else who loves and has a relationship with Jesus will be there with lots of room and plenty of time for conversations that won’t be surrounded by “things” such as olive oil containers…

 I think I’ll begin making a list of questions I can ask in order to start more interesting conversations…and give fair warning that IF you meet up with me in a store, I WILL start talking to you, especially if I need to learn something new…think you may need a kind word or a prayer spoken over you…