A few weeks ago I was asked by the Giants to take part in a charity day put on by a national company in San Francisco who was going to be donating a portion of the commissions they generated to charities across the country. One of those charities was the Junior Giants within the Giants Community Fund, so I was asked to be a part of that.
I walked into one of the conference rooms that had a bunch of college-aged students from Cal-Berkeley who were recipients of the funds for a charity they were supporting. Asked to speak to this group, I shared a condensed version of my story. After I spoke, one of their directors looked at me and said, “Dave, I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but you’re speaking to a group of students who raise money to help kids with cancer attend a camp.” I was amazed. All of a sudden there was a unique affinity with this team!
In the middle of this time, a young woman raised her hand and said to me, “Dave, do you remember a Kristen Machado?”
“Oh my goodness, Yes!” I said as I remembered that our ministry, Endurance, had encouraged Kristen and her family during her battle with cancer. At that point Kristen had already lost her right arm and shoulder to cancer. We made perfect bookends!
This 19 year-old woman looked at me and said, “I’m her daughter, Claire.”
Immediately I embraced Claire. As we were hugging, the room was in tears. It was a powerful moment.
During her battle Jan and I developed a relationship with Kristen and her family. I had met Claire at that time and now I was able to see her once again, all grown up and working hard to ensure that kids with cancer had the chance to attend this camp.
This was one of those really special God moments where you go out for the day, not knowing what’s going to happen and all of a sudden God shows up in a beautiful way. God brought back this amazing woman to remind me of her incredible mom who fought hard against cancer, lost her arm, and eventually her life. Meeting Claire again was a sweet reunion—one that I will not soon forget.
God has a way of showing up and blessing us in the most unexpected ways. I’m thankful for the opportunity to bless and to be blessed by others through God’s divine appointments.
If you know someone who is, or has a loved one, battling cancer, amputation, or depression, please send them toendurance.org. We would love to offer an Encouragement Gift, filled with encouraging resources, to anyone who is in need.
—Dave Dravecky
Dave Dravecky is a regular contributor to The Increase and will be providing monthly articles and opinions.
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