Friends By Chance

Hey Friends,

Happy Saturday, This is Odie reporting in. We had a fantastic week in Citronelle, Alabama. Pastor Darius Templeton and our friends at Cedar Creek Holy Church of God welcomed us with open arms. They were ready for revival and God met us from the first service. It was really incredible to see God blessing them! We love the precious people at Cedar Creek!

Yesterday the BoggsMobile was supposed to take us to Ellisville, Mississippi, but it would not start. Check Dad's post yesterday to find out about that. It was a very long day for him Friday. I am sure he will update you all on Monday. Please pray for us.

We are anticipating a wonderful revival starting tomorrow at Ellisville and going through Friday! The church services are always amazing and the fellowship is grand! Stay tuned for revival coverage. Our friends at Ellisville are sure to provide us with great blog material. 😀

Friends By Chance

Our family is blessed abundantly with amazing friends. Traveling has allowed us to meet people from all over. It is a privilege that I am so thankful to have and I try not to take it for granted. 

Many of my friends I met by chance and the friendship happened accidentally. Looking back over time I thank God for allowing our paths to cross.

Incredible friends have helped me get through life and I want to purpose to be a friend that helps others along too. My goal is to give as much friendship as I have received and more! I owe a lot of debt in the friendship department.

Six years ago I clicked a link on a blog to see wedding pictures. That link led me to the blog of Bekah Shaffer. The blog’s content intrigued me and I wanted to read more. In six years I do not think that I missed reading a post. 

I read many of the blog posts in a short amount of time to get acquainted with Bekah and Ryan. I then sent Bekah an email thanking her for the encouragement that I found in her writing and life’s story. She responded to my message and an accidental friendship began. 

It was fun to find that we share several similar interests. Bekah and her husband Ryan became ”My Blogging Friends”. We kept in contact via email and text and hoped that one day we could meet in real life. Bekah also faithfully kept up with us here at Mile Markers. Dad called us Co-Stalkers. LOL

Bekah got sneaky and worked with my parents without my knowledge and planned a huge surprise. Bekah and Ryan made a plan to attend the open house and house dedication that we had last August. I never had written about my surprise here, but Dad mentions it in the dedication post.

Friday, August 17, 2018, was a very important day for me.  I do not believe I will ever forget that wonderful day. The house that God’s people built for me to live in was completed. It was the date that we set to dedicate it to God and show the house to family and friends that made it all possible. Words cannot express how awesome the entire day was for me!

I was sitting on my couch talking as a new group came in to tour the house. When Ryan and Bekah Shaffer walked through my front door! To say I was shocked, flabbergasted, surprised and many more adjectives would be a complete understatement!!  I could not believe my eyes. The well kept secret was a major success! 

I still smile when I remember that incredible moment that I met my friends in person. In an instant, we went from ”Blogging Friends” to ”Real Friends”. We have pictures to prove it! We both believe if there are no pictures then there is no proof that it happened.

Bekah and Ryan, thank you once again for the gift of your friendship and for making my day! I know that you sacrificed time out of your busy schedules to make the trip from Indiana to Ohio. I can not express my gratitude enough. I am humbled that you cared enough to come to meet me. Y’all deserve a huge gold star friendship award!⭐️ 

I know Bekah was nervous to contact my parents to try and plan a surprise meet up. I am so glad that she overcame her nervousness. It was an honor to meet them and introduce them to my family and friends!

Click here to read a blog post that Bekah wrote about the day.  You can also click here to listen to their podcast where they talked about the surprise. 

Six years ago I found Bekah’s blog by chance but I am grateful that God led me to friends! I want to remind all of us to be friendly to whoever that crosses our path. God may have a greater plan at work! A wonderful friend might come when you least expect it to happen. 

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have a fantastic weekend. 

Odie