Serendipity

Paying attention. Looking up. These are actions that I have to remember to do. I am from a small town and I remember once I started driving, people would see me and say, “Hey, I saw you in your car yesterday and I waved at you.” This happened…a lot. I never saw these people who claimed to be waving at me. I wish I could say it is because I am such an excellent driver, but the record would disagree with that notion.

I am usually engrossed in whatever I am doing and have a difficult time being disturbed from my ever-constant multi-tasking. Hospitality carries with it the idea of hosting, which I am about as good at as driving. However, I believe we have missed the point of hospitality when we make it about centerpieces and soufflés. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook for others, but the idea of cleaning my house to a satisfactory level for hosting makes me put off opportunities for fellowship I might otherwise have.

When I think of being hospitable, I lower my cleaning anxiety when I realize that part of being hospitable is being aware of the people around me. Serendipity is hard to spot while checking off the to-do list. I had two “chance” encounters in the past four months which made me so grateful I chose to look up, pay attention, and ask questions. At two separate times, in two different states, at two different events, I realized that I was sharing very sacred space with people I used to be in a very special choir with. One of my favorite seasons of life was singing in Resounding Harmony in Dallas under the direction of Tim Seelig. I met beautiful people, we made beautiful music, and gave to beautiful causes. It has been over a decade since I sang there, but had the opportunity to share two new meaningful experiences with my choirmates this summer and get to know their journeys even better! Realizing I had new friends from an old life felt very serendipitous indeed.

---

This post is part of a 5-Day challenge with Hope Writers.

#hopewriterlife