Sweet Connections
Sometimes I marvel at how our lives intertwine. This past spring I took a creative writing class with my friend Janice, taught by Millicent, a mutual friend of ours. Millicent and I have been acquaintances for years and have recently become friends. The class was filled with seasoned writers and wanna-be authors like me.
Two young sisters who were attending captured the hearts of the gray-haired students. They captivated us with their creative stories and poems. Because we developed a bond in the class, we exchanged phone numbers and keep in touch.
Last week, when we got together for lunch, Janette shared that she was excited about her first teaching job in North Carolina. Katrina, the 17-year-old, told me she helps a church friend, Debbie, with her baking business on Thursdays. She mostly works on packaging baked goods and enjoys the day visiting with Debbie. Debbie sells baked goods, jams, and jellies, and other fare every Saturday at the corner of Highways 41 and 53 in Calhoun, Georgia.
This past Saturday, my friend Janice and I were driving past that very intersection on our way to our friend, Vickie’s, book signing. Janice introduced me to Vickie two years ago. I noticed Debbie sitting out by a trailer. I told Janice about Debbie and wondered if we should turn around right away or come back. We turned around because we didn’t know if Debbie would be there on our way back.
We stopped and introduced ourselves to Debbie. Debbie said she has been doing this for eleven years. She explained the jams, jellies, dressings, and sauces were from friends in Ohio, but she made all the baked goods on Thursday. On Fridays she sets up shop at a tire store in nearby Nickelsville, and she sits on this corner in Calhoun every Saturday until 2:00. My watch read 2:30. Debbie hadn’t sold out, so she stayed longer. If she had sold out by 2:00, Janice and I would not have met her.
Debbie said in August 2012 she proclaimed she wanted to “make life sweet.” She wanted to reach everyone and spread cheer and love and hope. Debbie’s Country Pantry, which began with a van and a tent, has grown into a truck and a walk-in trailer from which Debbie can “put smiles on people’s faces.” Her business is not centered on making money, but as an opportunity to touch lives with her sweetness. Who doesn’t love a pecan pie or a blueberry roll delight?
To come full circle, if I hadn’t taken Millicent’s writing class, I would not have met Janette and Katrina, who introduced me to Debbie, who I am now introducing to you. And if Janice hadn’t introduced me to Vickie, we would not have been driving through Calhoun that Saturday. I marvel at the interconnections of our lives. Do you have an unusual story about how you met someone? Please comment below.
August 24, 2023 @ 9:55 pm
Joy,
You have the most interesting life. I enjoyed your Blog.
I do stop at little roadside stands & local Farmer Markets.
Enjoy your day,
Fran Fayan
August 25, 2023 @ 12:06 am
Thanks, Fran. I still remember how we met on the beach when I was on my way to Galilee and Jerusalem.
I’m glad you stop at roadside stands. I believe making those unexpected stops makes life sweet.
August 24, 2023 @ 10:54 pm
If I had not accidentally moved into a mold, infested house, and then had to move out, I would never have met my friend, Joy Walker, who became my new neighbor in my new neighborhood. Truly all things do work together for good….
August 25, 2023 @ 12:01 am
Thanks, Annemarie. We can thank God for mold like Corie Ten Boone and her sister thanked God for fleas.
August 25, 2023 @ 4:31 pm
Love your sweet connections!!! Indeed our world is not as big as we think! Our paths crisscross through time in the most beautiful and I believe providential way…it’s not by chance or “luck” that we get to experience these moments!
Debbie is a sweet treat to know and I have been blessed by her and the loving community she is apart of! No coincidence here!!!
Here’s another example of this…I’ll try to be brief
Our daughter had quite a checklist you might say in finding the most qualified man for her future husband. My husband and I always chuckled in disbelief that her goals were, well, let’s say not realistic at best. Until one early morning, probably 5:30 a.m. to be exact. I know this because my husband was doing a half Ironman up in Chattanooga and as his loving support team, my daughter and I were there as well. He was waiting in the transition area for the swim start when he noticed a young man participating as well who from all outward appearances “fit the bill!” The checklist! He made no contact with him but told our daughter about him. Not sure what my husband was thinking as there are thousands of athletes who were present and he knew nothing about this one in mention…except the remote likelihood that he may show up at another race, another time, another place. A random meeting.
But that is exactly what happened not too long after! And my daughter and I were present again as cheerleaders. As providence would have it, our unnamed young man had a name because one of our mutual friends who also was racing that day told us who he was. The rest is history. They are currently married with three adorable children we love and enjoy! Ps…we joke about this often and tell people that my husband truly picked the man our daughter would marry…a prearranged marriage, in the most unlikely way!
August 25, 2023 @ 5:52 pm
What a great story, Cheryl. Thank you for sharing the details.
August 26, 2023 @ 3:07 pm
Well, you know the story of how I met my husband, Dale! Only God could to bring a single man to an elementary school! I took one look at those blue eyes, and I was gone! And since I was diagnosed with ALS, he has been a godsend. The days aren’t easy now, but he continues with me, faithful and true! I’m blessed that Jesus allowed our paths to cross!
I enjoy your blog, Joy! Keep it going!
August 28, 2023 @ 4:50 am
What a great story you have Annette. And what a great man. God bless you both.
September 22, 2023 @ 1:34 pm
After losing my husband Randy I felt like my world was dark, I had lost myself when I lost him. We had plans and now so many would go unfinished. However he speaks to me often and last year he told me I had to take a journey we had planned, a journey to take route 66 out to California to see our daughter for her 40th birthday and to deliver a hope chest he had made her for a birthday decades ago. This trip was to be a healing journey for me. I called it my journey to finding joy again. My sister Pam was able to make the ride from Illinois to LA with me. She lives in LA and comes to visit back in Illinois where I live every October. We celebrate my birthday, and she goes to a Bears game with a college friend, and we get in apple picking (or just a visit to the apple farm for apple cider donuts) every year. This year she was able to make time for the quick 3 day journey across county. We were told about a little place at the halfway mark that had amazing pies and we planned to stop! Unfortunately our timing wasn’t great, and yet it turned out to be perfect, as the little diner was closed when we got there. However there are photo ops so we stopped and we’re taking pictures when an RV pulled up, a sweet women got out and asked if we wanted her to take a picture for us. We were so excited and returned the favor. In meeting this sweet girl I found the Joy I was looking for. Some how my story of losing Randy poured out and so did my tears, and she shared her story of traveling and her goal of biking in all 50 states. Often times God gives us a wink and says “here you go, remember I got you” !
Joy walker rode into my life to jumpstart my journey to finding Joy!
How profound and wonderful that you turned out to be a passionate “writer” like myself ❣️
Our paths cross and stories are always there for the telling … sometimes it’s all in the stops by the side of the road.
September 22, 2023 @ 3:47 pm
Oh, my goodness, Donna. You are making me cry. I meet so many in my travels but some I really connect with like I did with you and your sister. I was so impressed by your story (sisters from Chicago and LA driving the whole Route 66 in honor of your husband) and still am. Who doesn’t love a good story like that? I thank God for you and for the many others I have met along the way, many who are reading my posts. I hope they will read your story and know how much one little encouraging visit/word from a “stranger” can mean the world to someone. It’s been almost a year since we met, yet I can remember us laughing as we posed for pictures of ourselves at the half way point as if it were yesterday. Thanks for sharing your story with me and with all who will read it now. You are a Joy yourself. Keep writing.
October 25, 2023 @ 8:10 pm
Would love to meet Debbie in Calhoun. Sounds like a sweet lady with many blessings. Is she still at the intersection of 41 and 53? Would love to make it by this weekend.
Keep blessing us with your amazing writing.
Love you friend,
Sherry
November 1, 2023 @ 2:59 am
Sherry,
I’d love for you to meet Debbie too. Sorry I did not see this message until now. Yes, she is there on 41 before you get to the light at highway 53 by Kroger every Saturday. I just went by this Saturday, October 28th and bought more sugar free jelly and homemade jalapeno bread. It was great to see her since I’ve been gone a month. She was doing well and had sold out of most of her baked goods by noon, so get there early.
Thanks for the kind words, my friend.
Joy