It's amazing how people come into our lives

I was walking through the craft section at Wal-Mart Friday night trying to find something to add to a project I was working on.  A small package of purple beads caught my eye.  I glanced down at the rubber bracelet I had been wearing for a couple months in honor of Kathy, a family friend who had been battling cancer, and the words were barely readable.  Friday had been a month since she had lost her fight with cancer. 

I quickly started going through the other beads and looking at the other components that I would need to make what I was envisioning.  The concept was there, but the final product was going to be iffy.  Once we were home, I sat down and started putting everything together.

The final product actually looked like what I had pictured.  I was pretty proud of my first piece of jewelry, so like many people I took a picture and shared it on facebook.  I didn't think anything of it until someone asked me how much I would charge for them. I posted the price annotating that half of the price would be going into the donations for the half marathon walk I'm doing later this year for cancer research.  I was suprised that by yesterday afternoon, there were orders for nine bracelets. 

So today I found myself back at Wal-Mart trying to get everything I would need to make those and a few extras.  As I was checking out, the lady working the register stopped as she was ringing up the beads and made a comment about how pretty they were.  I showed her my bracelet and explained the whole thing including who they were in honor of and where the money that was made from them was going. 

She stopped for a second and then went on to tell me that her dad had participated in some walks for cancer research in the past and she continued by telling me that he had multiple melanoma.  She paused again for a second and told me that she had just found out that she had cervical cancer.  I was floored.  The look on her face told that she was having trouble still saying it and it seemed that this is something she hadn't shared with many people.  I think she had even surprised herself by saying it.  She told me that she was always interested in supporting a good cause and asked for a way to contact me.  I gave her a few of my photography cards and said good-bye.

As I walked out to my car, I was fighting back tears...  This woman had maintained a smile on her face, while she explained all of this and the fact that she had three small children.  She had told me how much of a blessing her children were in keeping that smile on her face and how she believed that's why God gave them to us.  It was an extremely humbling experience, it's truly amazing how God works in our life.