This spring I was helping a friend of mine teach a lifeguarding certification class. The real purpose of me being there was to learn how to teach, but I had been a lifeguard for so long by this point, that I already knew the material and just needed help learning how to put it into a streamlined format. It had been a rough week. I was in my final semester of my AS and prepping for the NCLEX, working 3 part time jobs, preparing for summer camp training, trying to get all the paperwork for my mission year done, and now helping with this class.

The problem at the top of the list, however, was the fact that I had to have another girl to go with me to the Great River Project and I had no idea who the person was. I had almost convinced a classmate to go with me, but at the last minute she pulled out and I was scared. If another girl didn’t apply, I would have to find another project and the last thing I wanted was to be a teacher for a year. During the next few weeks, an email showed up in my inbox saying Lorena Dale* from the Midwest was going to be going with me. “Well this is great.” thought I. “This is April and now they assign me some Midwestern stranger is going with me.” I promptly went to Facebook and searched for this strange person, but no name ever appeared. “Oh great. So to top it all off I can’t even find her on Facebook which probably means she’s some conservative girl who doesn’t believe in social media.” sigh

Later that week, as we wrapped up class, the splashing and noise in the pool died down and Morgan* and I started to talk.
“Did I tell you I am going to work as a nurse in Cambodia for a year?” I asked.
“Seriously?” She said. “My cousin is going to Cambodia too! The whole family is worried about Lorena going by herself.”
“What did you say her name was?” I questioned.
“Lorena Dale. Her family is kinda crazy and right now she’s the kinda normal one.”
stunned silence
“She’s going with me. She’s my partner on the Great River Project.” I said, not quite believing what I just heard.
Now it was Morgan’s turn for stunned silence.
I spoke first “I can’t believe this. Do you think we will get along? Do you have a picture of what she looks like?”
“Oh you two will get along so well. Hold on let me look her up on Facebook.” She said as she scrolled through her phone.
Morgan confirmed Lorena was not a crazy conservative person with no Facebook, she was indeed a semi-normal human being, and we finally decided to call it a night.

And that is how I found out about my crazy, blonde, accident-prone friend who is going to be starting IV’s on me for the next 8 months. Was it a miracle? Well what are the chances that out of all the lifeguard instructors in the southeast I ended up working with one who had a cousin in the Midwest who heard the same call to missions that I did? So yes. I would say its a miracle.

*not their real names. However Lorena is the actual pen name of my partner and you can look up her blog on this website to follow her side of the next few months.

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