Two years ago, I launched my writing blog — Peace Garden Writer — as a takeoff to this one. The weekend prior, I’d attended a conference for children’s writers in Sioux Falls, S.D. That event formed the basis of my first post (here). It’s fun to look back and realize all that life has brought since that time, and how my writing blog has flourished.
But that’s not what’s amazing about what I want to share. What’s amazing is this:
Meet Lindsay, author of the blog Young Married Mom: Musings on Motherhood and Family from a Young Married Mom in NYC.
Lindsay was one of the editors at that conference, and I vividly remember several conversations I had with her. I was so struck by our sharing that I wanted a photo of the two of us at “the falls,” where a group of us had gathered the first evening of the conference after dinner.
It wasn’t the writing element that stayed with me as much as the fact that during the course of our discussions, we realized we have something in common besides our love of words. We were fellow Christians — even more specific, Catholic. Lindsay was newly married and seemed open to the thought of expanding her little family. I’d been married 18 years and had five kids in the fold. But we seemed to value so many of the same things. I was surprised and delighted by this and felt our time together had been far too brief.
What I didn’t know then is that Lindsay was expecting her first baby during that conference. She’s now a mother to a darling little boy; a boy that I met as well, unknowingly, when I met Lindsay. Though I didn’t know whether I’d ever cross paths with Lindsay again, I felt somehow that our time together had been purposeful.
This weekend, everything became clear. Lindsay re-introduced herself through this blog, sharing the story of how she’d found me again. It was through another common experience — losing a child in miscarriage. Lindsay revealed that an article of mine on CatholicMom.com was the first online resource she read following her loss, and that when she read the same account in a new book by Karen Edmisten — After Miscarriage — she made the connection that I was the same Roxane she’d met in person in South Dakota two years ago. She also shared that my words have been an integral part of her healing.
When I read Lindsay’s note, tears flowed; tears containing shared grief, as well as joy and gratitude. God knew when we stood before those calming waters that lovely evening in Sioux Falls the spring of April 2010 that our coming-together was about more than writing. It was about bumping into a soul sister.
I’m grateful to have crossed paths with Lindsay again. I look forward to what we might share with one another in the coming months. And I’m in awe all over again at the lengths God goes to help us connect so that we can offer one another encouragement and hope on the journey.
Q4U: When have you last experienced a “coincidence” you knew was really a whisper from God?
What a walk down memory lane reading your post today. I remember meeting you and Lindsay at this conference. Your post is such a great reminder of the bigger picture we often don’t see. Thank you. Blessings to you both!
Kim, when I searched for the photo of Lindsay and me at the falls, I also found the one of the two of us. That made me smile, to remember that that is where we also made that first in-person acquaintance. What a wonderful and fruitful conference that was! Even more so when seen two years later. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this incredible story, Roxane.
A beautiful story, Roxane! And thank you again for sharing your words for the book!
What a beautiful story!
That’s a beautiful story. I love that web of coincidence which makes a greater pattern of meaning.
The Holy Spirit is always present. It’s our very breath and the aura of others. We are connected by a life-giving spirit.