Every once in a while, a magical moment pops into our life. A synchronicity, stars are aligned moment. Where we couldn’t have imagined how wonderful 15 minutes could really become. Or how kind someone might be towards us.
Yesterday my husband and I were lost in Wisconsin. Just driving around, and took a wrong turn. Somehow, I sensed this was no accident. We wound up at Church Rd. Aptly named because there is an old church on this road, with a cemetery around it. And it looks like nobody’s attended there for quite some time. And yet, it’s still in good enough shape to have a service there. The church and cemetery are surrounded by a big fence. The gate is open! It doesn’t look like it would be, but it is. We went in and peeked through the windows, took some pictures with our camera, just like we’d done the last time we were there, 2 year ago.
Nothing had really changed. But we were thrilled to see this again. It had been a good experience before. Suddenly, to our surprise, a man came up to us and asked if we wanted to see the church inside. We didn’t even know anyone was around. We said sure! We got a tour of the church and found out that there is a service held there, once a year. Apparently, the people in the community keep the church up well enough so that this can still happen. I’m guessing there’s no pastor, but people still want to use the church. Obviously at one point this was a vital church community, you can tell by the cemetery.
The man reminisced with us and said, “When you sit in these pews, can you imagine a stagecoach with horses letting people off here, and having them walk through these doors in their old fashioned clothing, with snow outside, as they celebrate xmas.” I said yes! I could totally see that. And the place suddenly felt alive.
When we walked out the door, I heard a whistling sound. I looked to my right and saw 2 hummingbirds sip nectar from the lilac bush right outside the church! I felt so blessed in that moment. I told the man, “what a wonderful day! How cool was that. Thank you so much for the tour.” He smiled big, and for a minute, any cares I had, were gone. And I felt the kindness of a stranger seep into my bones and comfort me. It was a reminder that you can still feel kindness and trust in a small town, and that an ordinary day can turn into a treasure.
Linda Strickland - Nature Restores Me 