I Will Follow Him

S-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-o-u-s!

Have you ever had one of those serendipitous days…one where everything was so divinely orchestrated that you could do nothing but stand in awe? Today was just such a day.

First, a little backstory:

I spent the past week at a writer's retreat in Round Top, Texas. On the way home from the event (yesterday), I turned up my car radio and listened to worship/praise music. Chris Tomlin's song, "I Will Follow" came on. For the first time, I really listened to the lyrics. (If you're unfamiliar, check it out here.) The words of the song really resonated with me because I'm genuinely desiring to follow Him–step by step, minute by minute, particularly as it applies to my writing. Later that afternoon I left my house to go to the theater (where I direct plays) and the same song came on again. I had to laugh. Clearly, the Lord wanted me to get the message.

At about that same time, an email came through on my phone. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. Basically, the gist of the email was this: My name is Melisa. I'm writing on behalf of Tracey at the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Beverly Browning is doing a seminar with us. You are her favorite author. Can you come tomorrow?

Honestly, I thought the email was a mistake. I didn't know Melisa…or Tracey…or Beverly Browning. And I wasn't sure if Melisa meant Cleveland, Ohio, or Cleveland, Texas! I wrote back with a simple, "Do you have the right person? I live in Texas." Melisa responded, explaining that the Chamber of Commerce in Cleveland Texas (about an hour from my home) requested the honor of my presence at 11:30 a.m. today (Friday) in order to surprise Dr. Beverly Browning, who happened to be in Cleveland, leading a grant-writing seminar. I know nothing about grant-writing (and Beverly's name still rang no bells). Still, I couldn't get the email out of my mind. Hadn't I just told the Lord, "Where You go, I'll go; Where You stay, I'll stay; When You move, I'll move; I will follow You"?

And so…

This morning at 10:30, I left my house to drive to Cleveland Texas. I knew in my heart that I was supposed to go, though I had no clue why! I followed Melisa's directions and made it to the Civic Center at 11:30. Tracey (who works for the Chamber) met me outside the room, very, very excited. She explained that they would stop the meeting, usher me in, introduce me to Dr. Browning, and photos would be taken. Still unsure about what was happening, I asked, "Are you sure you have the right author?" Tracey's response: "Did you write those Bella wedding books?" I realized at that moment that they did, indeed, have the right author. Still, why would Dr. Browning (from Phoenix, by the way), know or care about me? And why would the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce track me down just to make Dr. Browning happy?

Well, they ushered me into the room with much fanfare, and Bev Browning flipped out! (In a good way.) She even cried! Turned out, she's read something like nine of my books since January! (Talk about a fan!) She could hardly believe the Chamber had gone to such efforts to bring her favorite author in. Before long I had most of the story figured out. She'd driven through the town of Splendora on her way from the airport to Cleveland and recognized it as the hometown of several characters in my Bella books….so she'd told the participants in the grant-writing class (sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce). She gushed quite a bit, so they decided to try to track me down (and found me through facebook).

After our initial how-do-you-do, Bev informed me that she reads books on her kindle…so I'm pretty sure that the "Fools Rush In" amazon freebie was what got the ball rolling. She fell in love with that story and bought the next book, then the next.

Here's where the story gets even better.

I'd taken a ton of other books to give away (some to Bev and some to the other guests). Everyone got a free book, and several people bought add'l books, besides. Then we all went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. There, I met all sorts of amazing people from Cleveland! If my calculations are correct, I now have three speaking engagements as a result of meeting those folks: one at a church, one at a Rotary Club and one at a reading/library group.

I also got to sit in on the rest of Dr. Browning's grant-writing seminar, (for free!) which got all sorts of wheels turning in my head. (By the way, she's the author of "Grant Writing for Dummies" and is a brilliant, brilliant woman. Her knowledge made my head spin!) I was given a free autographed copy of her book, and she gave me her teacher's notes from the class. Wow!

Yes, it was a serendipitous day. I'm so glad I heard Chris Tomlin's song when I did, and even gladder that I actually followed the Lord…all the way to Cleveland. I'm tickled pink that my characters (D.J. Neeley and those "Splendora sisters") actually led one of my readers to a personal meeting with me. (What fun!)

I'm sure more stories will come out of this, but for now, I'm just glad that I chose to go. I could've stayed home. I was plenty tired after the long week away. But I didn't stay home. I followed…and I'm mighty glad I did.

Oh, and check this out. Bev Browning and I are now facebook friends. She just posted this on her page: Today I cried! Why? The Greater Cleveland (TX) Chamber of Commerce arranged for my favorite Christian author, Janice Hanna Thompson, to magically appear at Grant Writing Boot Camp. I was in shock! She came, she gave everyone multiple autographed books (including me); stayed for lunch (sat next to me) and spent the entire afternoon with all of her new friends. No Boot Camp site host has ever done this for me.

Isn't God cool?!

P.S. My new friend Teresa will understand why I used the word "serendipitous!"