Taylor: How God Orchestrated a Friendship

In July 2018, my youngest son – who was attending graduate school in Berkeley – needed to relocate for a one-year internship in Johnson City, Tennessee.

To move across the country from California to Tennessee, he recruited his brother to drive with him.

When I heard that he was going to be leaving, I asked his wife if she wanted to schedule a time for us to get together during his time away. She told me that her mother, Sydney, was flyiing out from Nashville to spend the week with her while the brothers were driving together across the country.

Sydney was a good friend and prayer partner, and I was happy to hear that she would be visiting during this time.

They decided to come south to Carlsbad and have a day of fellowship with me at the beach. We enjoyed a build-your-own sandwich lunch buffet, then we packed up our sand chairs and beach umbrellas and walked across the street to spend the afternoon at the beach.

The date was July 6, 2018.

We had gabbed over lunch, and we gabbed some more sitting under our beach umbrellas on the beach. Then – we just relaxed and enjoyed sitting there listening to and watching the waves.

There were a lot of people on the beach that day. I was looking at the ocean enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells when a pretty, young blonde approached me.

She asked if I would do her a favor. I responded, “That depends. What is the favor?”

She told me that it was her twenty-fifth birthday, and that she was having a crappy day. She said that she had just moved from southern Illinois, and she didn’t know anybody. She was going through a divorce from a Marine at Camp Pendleton, and she had applied for a new job but didn’t get it.

Since it was her birthday, she wanted to know if I would hold her cell phone and her keys while she ran into the ocean with her clothes on.

I extended my hand to hold her phone and her keys and nodded that I would, but I looked at my daughter-in-law and her mother, and they knew exactly what I was going to do next – and the three of us broke out into a peppy rendition of “Happy Birthday!”

Taylor shed a few tears and then ran into the ocean with her clothes on and came out, of course, dripping wet. As she walked up to me, I instructed her to blow off her pointer finger and enter my telephone number on her phone.

After she plugged it in, I told her, “Now you have one new friend.”

Afterward, my daughter-in-law felt the Lord to speak into Taylor’s life, and her mother pulled Taylor aside and prayed with her.

Taylor then shared with me that the previous weekend, she had asked the chaplain at Camp Pendleton to baptize her, and he did. She was newly baptized with no church home.

Without knowing that, I invited her to attend church with me the next Sunday and she accepted.

Taylor and I have developed a very special relationship – she has become an adopted daughter, and even refers to herself as my bonus daughter.

We text, talk, and see each other almost every week. She is on a journey both spiritually and physically.

She is a Lyme Disease survivor but still has ongoing symptoms and health issues that she struggles with.

It was merciful of the Lord to bring our lives together for a variety of reasons. In light of the many health challenges that I have worked through over the years, I have both an understanding and compassion for Taylor and all that she is going through.

She is a sharp, smart, accomplished young woman who has done a lot of her own research and people pay attention to her when she talks.

We are a special support for one another. No one can or will ever replace my biological daughters, but Taylor is a gift from God in my life.

We have genuine love and affection for each other.

When she was still living in California, she consistently called, texted, initiated getting together, and attended church with me.

I believe that God intentionally gifted us with each other. There were hundreds of people on the beach that day. Why did Taylor approach me?

I know the answer to that – it’s because God orchestrated it.

I experienced two devastating miscarriages – one before my youngest daughter was born and one after her.

I know in my heart that the first miscarriage was a daughter, and I named her Rebekah.

In my time with the Lord and my musings, I often thought that daughter, whom I lost to miscarriage, would have been close to Taylor’s age. I am intentionally full of gratitude for having Taylor in my life.

This article was an excerpt from God Storys by Victorya Wright.

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