The "A Heartwarming Story For All To Enjoy" Story

It was an ordinary day.  A Sunday and I was in the midst of reading my local Sunday newspaper when I came upon a story that was on the front page of the "Living" section of the newspaper.  Story was titled "Faith, phone call unite coworkers after 42 years" which was submitted to the Sunday News by local resident Joyce W. Bohn to be used in the newspaper's "I Know A Story" column.  Joyce began her story with..."In 1973, my husband was transferred to Lancaster by Armstrong.  In 1974, I accepted a position at Provident Bookstore on King Street, where I became the buyer for cards and stationery in the Lancaster County stores.  I had a wonderful staff."  Seems that two years later she began to feel "burned out", because Christmas was becoming so commercialized.  She resigned and left behind many good friends, employees as well as customers.  This past December she was making a call to the Mennonite Central Committee with a question and when someone answered the phone she said to them..."This is Joyce Bohm with a question."  The person on the other end of the phone replied to her..."Before you go any farther, may I ask you a question?"  Joyce replied, "Sure", but thought the response to be a little strange.  Well, the question posed to Joyce was, "Are you the Joyce Bohm who worked for Provident Book Store in the 1970s?  Joyce wrote that she was delighted to learn who was asking her.  She said she still recognized the person's voice.  She wrote that after all this time in Lancaster County, their paths had never crossed, but. moved in opposite directions.  She said that she was 16 years older than the caller and has two children.  Joyce wrote that she is one of 10 children, a mother and now a grandmother.  She wrote that the caller and she did not attend the same church, social functions or sporting events, but their moral and spiritual values have always been in lockstep, even though both of them had experienced many challenges in those intervening years.  They decided while talking on the phone that they wanted to reconnect by going to lunch.  They recently met at a nearby restaurant and as Joyce wrote, "talked nonstop (even while eating) for over two hours.  They are making arrangements to meet on a regular basis.  They both agreed that the spiritual connection they had was very strong.  She said, "We thank God for the mercy and grace that have remained  with us and again reunited us."  They are hoping that a unique phone call made for one reason has reunited them with a purpose due to another reason.  Her final sentence in the newspaper read, "We thank God for the mercy and grace that have remained with us and again united us."  And, sharing her story with those in the community of Lancaster through our local newspaper is heartwarming.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.