A Familiar Face in the Crowd

I visited the local fair the other day with a friend and as we were walking I noticed a familiar face in the crowd. Actually, my heart recognized her before my brain did but I felt a” God nudge” to stop her. Before I knew it, I said “Excuse me Ma’am?” So, she stopped and looked at me. It was at this point that I realized she hadn’t a clue as to who I was and because I had been the one to stop her it was up to me to put the puzzle together! So I said “I know you from somewhere.” So she smiled at me. Then all of a sudden, the memories came flooding back to my brain! Twenty Five years ago in a small meeting room of Alcoholics Anonymous, here in New England, this kind women welcomed me into her heart and assisted me in getting and staying sober! When I reminded her of the “Little Hall” meetings and the many times we sat and had coffee afterwards, she too remembered me.

This was a woman of dignity and honor. Someone whose heart and soul I loved and trusted when I wasn’t able to love or trust myself. I had been drinking and doing drugs for years! - Trying to hide my tears, my pain, and my shame. Back then, she didn’t say anything of all that. She would just listen and share her life experiences with me. She was like an angel to me. (There were many, many people in the halls of AA who assisted me – some more memorable than others and some who are still in my life today. This beautiful woman, she is one of the special ones for sure.)

As we stood there briefly talking to one another I thanked her for being there for me so many years ago. Her response was, “Well, I don’t know what I did”. I told her, “You spoke to me from your heart and you loved me at a time when I really needed to be loved.” A tear ran down her cheek when she said, “Thank you Alane for stopping me today to tell me this.” She also told me she is now in her 80’s and that she and two other women I also knew from that little hall get together every Thursday morning to read a Chapter from the Big Book and a passage from the Bible. Eventually, we hugged and went our separate ways but her smile remains in my heart even now.

I praise God for the opportunity to thank her in person like that. I praise God that He sent people to love me back then, when I felt totally unlovable. I praise God for being at work in my life when I didn’t even know Him and I praise God that three women, who are in their eighties, are gathering every Thursday morning to read a bit of the Bible and a bit of the Big Book.
Blessings,
Alane
Alane@ChrsitianWomenNow.com
http://blog.christianwomennow.com/ 
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