If you’re anything like me, when you start driving, you turn on the GPS. You have it muted because you don’t actually need it, but it’s nice to have. But then somewhere along the way you see the dreaded sign. ROAD CLOSED. Frantically, you look at the GPS to find a better route. Your heart races at the thought of going away from the known path. But the wonders of technology find a way. You take a breath. And you keep going.

I experienced something similar as I sat down to write this piece.

It all started with an idea. I gave myself the project of going through old letters and emails written to ShareWord Global to see if I could find stories to share. Most of the letters are handwritten, faded with time, but the heart and intentions were still clearly legible. Many were email requests for Bibles. I flipped through those quickly, as they tend to be less detailed and less personal.

I paused to take a quick sip of coffee and saw it.

My own name.

In September of 2012, I emailed the then-named Gideons International In Canada. I had a request.

I had struck up a friendship with a woman I saw nearly every day on the bus. The topic of God eventually came up, and she told me she had a hard time reading her Bible because the print was so small. She had this passion for God and was so hungry to know more.

“Where does it say this in the Bible?” she would ask. “What does it say about this situation?”

So, I wrote to the only people I knew who gave out Bibles. I requested a large print Scripture so she could continue to learn about God and find the answers to her questions.

And now here I am, working for that very same ministry, reading the very same email I had written 11 years earlier.

I wish I knew what happened to my friend. We didn’t keep in touch after I moved away the following year. But I do know God put us together for a reason. He put us both on that same bus route, knowing we would help each other.

This is what we do, isn’t it? We have been commissioned to reach out to those around us and share the gospel. We share with our friends, loved ones, strangers on the bus, the love God has given us along with a copy of His Word. He knew one day I would see that email again, and remind me that without a doubt, I am His servant in all things.