What are the Chances?
I'm intrigued by the social website www.meetup.com. I first read about sites like that one in France, where I was a solitary person trying to find a social group where I could find friends who shared common interests. Since I've moved back to Maryland, I've used this site often to search for (and find) others in my area who want to connect for scrapbooking, or speaking French, et cetera. When I started "The Right Fit" group on Monday nights at my church, I listed in on the website as a weight-loss support group, for those in the area that might want to join. I'd like to see more people from the community--not just church folks.
In the past several weeks, there have been a handful of people who have indicated that they would like to join. Eagerly, I look for them each week, but none of them showed up until last night. A lady named Joy came, and while we were all welcoming her, I thought she looked really familiar.
"Do we know each other?" I asked her.
With her brow a little furrowed, she said she didn't think so.
"What's your last name?" And that's when it clicked. As soon as she said her last name, I realized that we worked together in Jerusalem ten years ago. Her husband was a local man from the Old City, and she was a southern American who had married him and was raising her family there. As a born-again believer herself, she applied to teach in the elementary school, while I taught in the junior high and high school.
After all these years, and half a world of geography, Joy and I now live in the same town, and she's even been attending my church for a few weeks, although I hadn't seen her. Her daughter is dating one of my former students, and we played the game of "who-do-you-keep-up-with?" trading information on our former co-workers and what's been going on since we were last in Jerusalem.
The world is so small, it amazes me sometimes.
In the past several weeks, there have been a handful of people who have indicated that they would like to join. Eagerly, I look for them each week, but none of them showed up until last night. A lady named Joy came, and while we were all welcoming her, I thought she looked really familiar.
"Do we know each other?" I asked her.
With her brow a little furrowed, she said she didn't think so.
"What's your last name?" And that's when it clicked. As soon as she said her last name, I realized that we worked together in Jerusalem ten years ago. Her husband was a local man from the Old City, and she was a southern American who had married him and was raising her family there. As a born-again believer herself, she applied to teach in the elementary school, while I taught in the junior high and high school.
After all these years, and half a world of geography, Joy and I now live in the same town, and she's even been attending my church for a few weeks, although I hadn't seen her. Her daughter is dating one of my former students, and we played the game of "who-do-you-keep-up-with?" trading information on our former co-workers and what's been going on since we were last in Jerusalem.
The world is so small, it amazes me sometimes.