On Sunday...Lightning Struck

Lightning struck.  This was a saying I used to say when against the odds, an underdog team won.  Well, "Lightning Struck" on Sunday at church, figuratively speaking.

I sat in the section where Josie and her family usually sit.  They came late, so I didn't notice them until later in the service.  Once the service was over, I bought my son his usual ice cream cone from the truck, and while I was contemplating where Josie was, the mother, Gladys, was a few feet away smiling at me.  I waved at her and walked over.  She kissed me on the cheek and gave me a very tight hug.  We made light banter.  She said hello to a sister from the church who had a newborn baby, and made this comment, "Oh, I'm praying that my Josie will give me a grandchild."  Then as we continued to talk she spotted Josie a few feet away.  She said, "Oh, there's my daughter Josie, come on, I want you to meet her".

She said to Josie, "Remember that nice young man I told you I met in class, here he is."  I said, "Hi Josie, how are you?"  The mother said to me, "Oh.  Did you know I was Josie's mother?"  Let me speculate as to her question.  Did she mean that if my knowing that she was Josie's mother led to my "nice guy" behavior towards her?  Did she mean whether I meticulously and sneakily planned to meet her, knowing she was Josie's mother, just to get in good with Josie?  I sure hope not.  What's the truth?  Well, perhaps somewhere in the middle.  I genuinely think Josie's mom is a sweet person.  Yet I know she's Josie's mother.  Oh no, I now realize that I've stained the genuine characteristic that Josie's mother thought about me.

Back to the conversation with Josie.  We talked about 20 minutes or so.  Face to face with this beauty was what I've been praying about for the last few months, since approximately May (4 months).  Finally the relief of talking to her, and seeing her eye to eye.  Wow!  What an absolute beauty.  She's thin and tall.  Her eyes are large and light brown.  He nose is thin and curved.  Her smile is wonderful.  Her hair is a lovely dark blond.  Her accent is Guayaquilean, from Ecuador.  She told me that she's been praying to God that she find someone "divinely appointed" that she can hire to help her translate to English certain reports that she had to do for work.  I offered her to help her free of charge.  She insisted in paying me.  I insisted no charge.  Also, when we were about to say goodbye to each other, I asked her out to a baseball game where I had an extra ticket.  She said that that day, Tuesday, is difficult for her because it's her first day of work.  I asked her to call me to let me know.

It was a momentous day for me.