Daphne

So what was the coolest thing that happened on my vacation.  I could list a top 5:

1) Spending time with my nephews and feeling like they really know me for the first time.  That was super cool.

2) Spending time with my Mom doing fun things like the Chihuly exhibit, eating Ethiopian food three times, and babysitting my nephews.  We had a blast.

3)  Seeing friends in SLC and friends from SLC who now live in Denver and my violin teacher who is 88 years old and not doing so well...  That was good.

4) Driving with windows down and doors unlocked, using 2 ply toilet paper, drinking beer in public, camping and hearing good music in Telluride, seeing snow in the mountains, leaving things in the car without worrying the windows would be smashed and everything stolen, flushing two ply toilet paper, brushing my teeth with and drinking tap water, pizza...

5)  Feeling acknowledged by my North American church.

But the coolest thing of all happened so quickly I didn't even remember it happening until the next day.

After I spoke at church I was leaving the last service to go meet with anyone who wanted to learn more about Honduras.  I was headed for the lobby in a rush when someone called my name.  My first reaction was a little bit of frustration.  I knew if I didn't get out to the lobby I might miss the opportunity to meet with people who were leaving.

The voice behind me said, "Mary Lynn, you probably don't remember me but we used to work together.  My name is Daphne."  I certainly did remember Daphne.  We worked with 18-21 year old sex offenders.  They rested every afternoon from 2-4:30 so Daphne and I had plenty of time to talk.

At that time in my life I had already been called to serve in Honduras and was waiting for things to fall into place so I could move here.  I'm sure I talked about that a lot.

Daphne was a mother, working 16 hour days every Saturday and Sunday.  I remember sometimes it was hard for her to find a sitter.  I also remember she described herself as Wiccan.  That never bothered me.  I don't think religion ever caused any tension between us.  We were just two women doing the best we could and working at a really tough job.

So when the voice behind me at K2 was Daphne I was shocked!  Our whole conversation lasted only about 2 minutes.  I really regretted that later.  I tried to get her contact information from former co-workers but nobody had it.

Daphne explained as we walked together to the lobby that 7 months ago she decided her family needed a church.  She remembered me talking about K2 and decided to check it out.  She said, "So now we have been here for 7 months."  She said sometimes she wonders how I am doing in Honduras.  I am sure she was shocked to see me speaking up on stage!  Then she said she had to go pick up her kids from child care and we went our separate ways.

I collected donations from people.  I explained more about what we are doing at my Honduran church and what life is like in Honduras.  I went to a meeting for people who were interested in coming to Honduras on a mission trip.  We expected 12 people to be interested in the trip.  There were over 30.  All of these things were so overwhelming, I forgot about Daphne until the next day.

Now I can't stop thinking about her.  I talked to some friends about her and even told the story to a K2 pastor.  I was afraid she could get lost in the crowd at a church the size of K2.  It happens sometimes.  People come and like the church but find it hard to make personal connections.  So I had people on the lookout for someone named Daphne.

Then I sent an email to the woman in charge of outreach.  The email was about something else, but I also shared my story about running into Daphne.  Danielle, the woman in charge of outreach, wrote back within minutes and asked if Daphne's last name was .........  and if she had long brown hair.  She said if so, she has been connecting with Daphne.

WOW!!!!!  I was soooooo happy!  Actually happy is not the right word.  I was also amazed.  Amazed that in a large community Daphne had found a connection.  Amazed that of the three people from my church whom I reached out to, it was one of them who had connected with Daphne.  Amazed by our God and how He has everything under control.  Amazing.