This photo of author and speaker Eva Marie Everson and yours truly was taken recently in Florida where I was spending cloistered retreat time working on my second novel. We took a break to…you guessed it…go shopping. The hat was my Park Avenue purchase, a total steal at $13.00. But I digress…that’s not my point. Here’s my point…

We never know upon meeting someone for the first time what the Lord has in mind. There are times He thrusts us into the life of someone for one brief moment in time, like that time in the grocery store line when your words of encouragement to the harried mom just may have saved her life. Or how about the time when a jealous co-worker made a U-Turn away from vindictiveness, because you boldly shared a word given to you from God—a word you’d read only that morning in your daily devotional? All around us are divine appointments that when we look back in retrospect we can see are all part of a grand plan God has for each of us—His beloved children.

There are countless times in the course of our life (in the course of our day for some of us!) when we have scarce enough time for ourselves or our immediate families, how are we to know when God puts someone into our sphere that he wants us to get to know better?

Five years ago I was introduced to author and speaker Eva Marie Everson at a CBA Book Expo in February of 2001. The very first book in the God Allows U-Turns anthology was going to release that coming July at CBA in Atlanta. We had lunch with our publisher and when he left us alone to visit afterwards, who would have suspected that years later I would count her as one of my most trusted friends? It was, quite simply, a divine appointment.

As you go about your day today, I would ask only that you look at everyone you meet with that glorious expectation that God has arranged it all…and then see what happens. God is in control and He has a plan far bigger than anything we could ever hope or dream for. The meetings he orchestrates daily with friends and strangers, is part of that grand plan. Don’t miss out on what God is doing in your life…keep your eyes...and heart open.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” – Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)

And that’s what’s on my mind today.