Tuesday Tip: Talk To Strangers

I’m always telling my kids, don’t talk to strangers!  After all, strangers are dangerous.  Strangers can hurt you.  Strangers can invade your privacy and steal your identity.

The problem with my advice?  I’m not a very good role model.  My kids are always asking me, “Mom, why do you talk to strangers?”

It’s a fair question.  Besides the obvious answer -- I’m a grown woman and am entitled to live by a different set of rules than my young children – the real answer is simple:  I don’t want to miss out on divine appointments.

Have you ever met the right person at the right time?  Some meetings are more than coincidence.  And according to the book of Hebrews, some of those strangers out there happen to be angels.  “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”  (Hebrews 13:2)

I don’t know if I’ve ever entertained an angel.  These days, nothing would surprise me.

A couple of months ago, I was delayed in the Cincinnati airport.  You guessed it, I met a stranger.  Ann and I started talking, one thing led to another, and we found we had met for a reason. 

Ann is an IT specialist who builds online, interactive studies and book clubs for churches and ministry groups.  She was looking for writing content.

I explained to Ann that I was writing a faith-based book about my journey as a working mother.  I was looking for creative vehicles to promote the book.

Ann and I didn’t know we were looking for each other.  But God knew.  And I’m thrilled to say that Ann has inspired me to develop discussion questions for the book – questions that will be used in Ann’s online, interactive book club.  Check out her website – Light the World.  The online book club will launch in the coming weeks (and I’ll have a chance to interact with my readers)!

Sometimes, it pays to talk to strangers. 

Have you ever had a divine appointment?