Showing up and being obedient - Ruth L. Snyder

Greg McKitrick and Marcia Laycock at Words in the Park

After getting up at 5:15 on weekday mornings, I look forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings. But not this Saturday. My husband didn't look pleased when I informed him I would be away the whole day. My children are never happy when I leave, but they were excited about going to spend the day at Grandma's farm. We all had breakfast together and were out the door by 8:30.

I was supposed to meet Bobbi Junior at 11:30 at Words in the Park. "Lord," I prayed, "You know I feel like I'd rather be home today. Go before me. Give me the strength and wisdom I need." Before I left, I made sure I printed out driving directions. Everything went well until I arrived where the driving instructions told me to exit onto Sherwood Drive - it was closed due to construction. I drove to the next exit, praying that God would guide me. I don't drive in Sherwood Park very often and only know a couple of the main roadways. I knew that I had to go south-east, so I found a road that looked like a main thoroughfare and turned east. At the next stop light I scanned through the driving directions again and noted the venue was just north of Wye road. I needed to go further south. A couple turns later, I was delighted to see a sign that read "Sherwood Drive" - I was back on track. "Thank you, Lord!" A few minutes later I pulled into a parking lot and looked around. The Strathcona County Library sat directly to the left of the parking lot; I was right where I needed to be. Bobbi already had most of the display set up when I arrived at our reserved table at 11:35.

Greg McKitrick, a member of InScribe, was assigned to the table next to ours, even though we had not requested being together. A young fellow was at the table on the other side. Marcia Laycock arrived half an hour later and added her books to the display. As she was setting up her books, the young fellow's parents dropped by.

"This is my swear at the world," the young fellow said, holding up his book.

His parents nodded and smiled.

I bit my lip. Obviously our world views were vastly different."Lord, calm my fears and give me the words you want me to say to this young man."

The fellow's mother handed him a large poster to put on the wall. He was having difficulty getting it straight.

"I can help if you want," I said.

Soon the poster was hung. He offered Marcia and I chocolate bars as a thank you. We made small talk. I discovered he works as a luggage handler at the local airport. I shared a funny story I'd heard about a GPS system guiding a sleep-deprived woman onto the tarmac. Marcia continued the conversation by sharing what she was learning from her play-writing course.

People dropped by. Several mentioned they had heard about InScribe and they wanted more information. We handed out copies of FellowScript along with membership brochures. Some avid readers asked about our books. In the process of talking with them, I shared about The San Francisco Wedding Planner books I'm writing with four other writers. Later, the young fellow asked me more about what it was like to write with so many other people. He was fascinated by the possibility, but said he didn't think he could work with so many other authors. He left to fulfill his appointed reading from his book and his mother took his place at the table. I shared that her son had been interested in the wedding planner project. She asked a couple questions and then purchased both of the books in the series. After she purchased them she told her friends about them. I teased her about being my marketer.

"I can't wait to read your books. I'll let you know what I think."

"I look forward to your input."

As I thought about the event later, I realized that in other settings I would never have started up a conversation with the young man or his mother. I know that God had a special appointment for me on Saturday. All I had to do was show up and be obedient.