Since we didn’t have Sarah last weekend, we were looking at events going on around Greenville to see what Donn and I might like to do. Randomly, we decided to go to Jamestown to an event being held at the Gibson House. In addition to Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus, there would be vendors, food, and tours of the house with Christmas decorations until 3:00.

When we arrived, we looked at the wares of the vendors in the downstairs entry of the house where the food and Santa and Mrs. Claus were. We didn’t recognize Santa Claus, but he recognized me–Earl Corp, a reporter for the Record Argus, who sometimes reported on my book events.  

This event had been advertised on Facebook as being open until 3:00, but the signs here said 2:30. As I tried to decide if I wanted to get something to eat or not, I asked a woman standing by the counter if the tours would be going on after 2:30 because I wasn’t sure if we’d have time to do both. I definitely wanted to see the house with Christmas decorations.

The woman went to find out if the tour that was going on was almost finished. When she returned, she said she would take us herself and soon after, said she had been told that I was a published writer—I suspect that Earl had told her, although I didn’t hear them do it. She told us of something she’d written but “hadn’t been smart enough to publish.” I told her she probably was smart enough but just didn’t know it!

Our tour was amazing. Our guide said she was one of a group that had raised more than a million dollars to buy the Gibson House. She was very informative. The former owners were abolitionists which was one of the reasons the group wanted to buy it.

The decorations were also amazing. Our guide told us that each year they changed the rooms to a different nation. We were especially interested in the room that is decorated as the Japanese room since we served there as missionaries. We probably learned much more than usual because our guide was one of the original group.

Anita, our guide, told us that she wanted to sell my books in their bookstore if that was possible. I told her that my fiction series was set in Sandy Lake—I sensed that she already knew that.

A few minutes later, Anita added that she wanted me to come and speak at some of their meetings. I said I’d be delighted. As Donn and I were preparing to leave, she hugged me warmly and said, “You and I are going to do some things together.”

Just the day before I’d held my last book talk/book signing, telling the group that I’d be happy to come anywhere that I was invited but wasn’t going to set up my own events anymore. The next day, I learned that Anita is the Friends of the Manor Board of Directors Chair and was even more amazed at God’s timing.

As I ponder all of this, I am once again in awe of how God got us to the right place at the right time. Donn and I deciding randomly to go to Jamestown to an event at the Gibson House, which we haven’t done for a very long time, where Earl Corp, recognized me from my book events, and who told the Chair of Friends of the Manor Board of Directors that I am a published author.

  I am amazed at how God gets us to the places He wants us to be even when we have no idea what He’s doing!

Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing ways that bring about your plans for us in ways that we could never imagine! Amen.