Serendipities

Before we left on our trip, we contacted a number of people on our route to see if we could stop by to visit them when we passed through their area.

As a result, our schedule for the first two months of our trip is pretty full of planned visits with friends and family. Even so, we knew that a four-month, cross-country trip would also include a number of "serendipities," where we would see God's hand at work in unexpected ways.

One of those serendipities happened last Tuesday in Grand Teton National Park.

We were traveling around the park,looking at the amazing mountains. At one point, we pulled into an area overlooking Jenny Lake. We got out of our van to take some pictures and to stretch our legs. 

When we came back, a woman was looking at our van. She asked Lynn some questions. That's not unusual. We frequently have people ask about our van. We're always happy to talk with them and answer their questions. 

As Lynn was talking with the woman, I began to talk with her husband. I asked where they were coming from. "The Bozeman area," he said. When I was a teenager, I had spent a summer near Bozeman. It turned out that the couple was coming from the area where I had stayed, and we knew some of the same people. One question led to another. I mentioned that our church background was Christian Reformed. So was theirs, the husband replied. I asked him for his name. He replied, "Bel."

I looked carefully at him. And then I knew. He had to be Herm Bel, my old college roommate, whom I had not seen for more than 45 years. I asked him if his name was Herm. He looked puzzled and said, "Yes." Then I told him my name.

We looked at each other in amazement. And then we embraced. 

Lynn and Herm's wife looked at us strangely. They had not heard our conversation. And here were their husbands, whom they thought were two strangers, hugging each other. 

"Lynn," I said, "This is Herm Bel." Lynn knew Herm from our Calvin College days. Now it was her turn to shout, and her turn to hug Herm.

We spent the next hour talking non-stop over tea in the back of our van.  Herm and his wife, Dori, both had recently retired from very fulfilling and significant careers as teachers, and for Herm as a school administrator. They were making a road trip similar to ours, traveling to spend time with friends with whom they had worked and lived, and then stopping to see family on the way back to Chattanooga where they live.

It was wonderful to get caught up, but impossible to describe all that had happened to the four of us over 45 years. All we could do was to acknowledge God's blessings that each of us had experienced over the years. 

When it was finally time to leave, I looked at Herm and said, "God is in this connection we have just made. It cannot be just random. How else could we explain the fact that we wound up talking to each other in a parking lot next to a lake in Grand Teton National Park?"

So we exchanged contact information and went on our way. 

I'm interested in what God will do as a result of this contact with my old college roommate. I'm also eagerly looking forward to the next serendipity that God will bring our way on this journey.

It truly is turning into a great adventure.

Next stop, Yellowstone National Park