Who’s in Your Path?

Thursday, June 28th, 2018     by Debra DuPree Williams     Start the Conversation


By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams
Have you ever thought about the people you come across on a daily basis, or even those that seem to be chance encounters? I’ve thought about this a great deal lately—mostly in regards to this writing journey I’ve been on since 2014.

One of the main influences upon me back then, and even today, is my sister Bobbie. She’s been a big influence upon my life since the day I was born, but for the majority of my life, I wasn’t aware of just how significant a role she played. I knew she was my big sister and that she loved me and I loved her, but I was a kid, a teen, a young married woman, then a busy mother raising four sons. Who had time to think about the things she may or may not have been pouring into me?

Back in 2014 I had been working on writing poems for children, and picture books. I love writing in rhyme and rhythm. I had a leg up on that one because I have two degrees in music, one in vocal performance and one in music education. While I love writing those things, I kept hearing a voice saying write this. This happens to be the book I just completed, Grave Consequences, which very loosely tells about searching for my great grandmother’s grave for over twenty years, a search made fun and adventurous by having Bobbie at my side.

The Journey Begins

During a late-evening conversation with Bobbie, she said one little thing that started this entire writing journey, Have you been to this writer’s author page? At that time, I had no clue that author’s had pages, but I did a search, found that particular author and on her page, in a sidebar,  was a link to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.

Now, you may think, so what? Well, what I had no clue about at the time was that God had already been working behind the scenes and orchestrating things in such a way that in 2014, BRMCWC, as we call it, was being held in Asheville, the very week that we had to be there for the electrical walk-through of the home we were building. When I mentioned this to my husband, he insisted that I attend. So, in the days prior to our walk-through, which was scheduled for a Friday, I went to that conference on Sunday through Thursday. Good timing huh?
How Did That Happen?
At that conference I saw and met and talked to Christian writers whose books I had read. Let me insert here that I am sure that my mouth must have been gaping all week long.  I took classes from and learned from a couple of great ladies who have become friends. I met Edie Melson who in a few years would become my friend and social media coach. I met Eva Marie Everson who became not only my teacher but also my friend and my editor. I met Yvonne Lehman who asked me to join her writing group, a place where I could be with other Christian writers, learn, and be supported in this journey. My mouth is still gaping over all of these things.

Whom have you met lately? When you meet someone, you never know what God has orchestrated behind the scenes. I firmly believe that there are no chance encounters. In the writing world, we call these Divine appointments.

And all those writers I met because of an off-hand remark made by my sister, became the very people who prayed for her when she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer at the end of 2015. I’m happy to report that Bobbie is now cancer free, and has been for the past eighteen months. I know with every fiber of my being, that one of the reasons she told me about author pages is so that those good, Christian people could pray for her, joining all the others around the world who carried Bobbie’s name to the Throne Room and the healing hands of Jesus.
Trusting God

I don’t know where this writing journey is going to take me. My proposal has been sent out and now I wait. But I am content in knowing that God already had the plans for my life orchestrated before I was in my mother’s womb. So, this book, like all the other aspects of my life, is in His very capable hands. And even if nothing comes of this venture, I gained a few important things. I gained two-way friendships that will last forever. I gained people whom I know are praying for me and my family just as I am praying for them. And, because of the prayers of so many, I gained more time with my precious sister this side of Heaven. That alone, was worth having made this journey.

Who has God placed in your path, in the past, or even today? You may never know why they were there, or you may be surprised, as I was, by the journey your life will take. Remember to pray for those you meet today. God could be using you to redirect their paths, or maybe they are planting a seed that will change yours.

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