DIVINE APPOINTMENT ~ Janice Latimer

By Danna Shirley

I’ve had several what I consider “divine appointments” since I learned how God directs our footsteps, but meeting Janice has been an especially wonderful and blessed encounter. I was on my way home to Tennessee after spending an extended stay in California. On boarding the plane the first available seat I spied was on the front row aisle where Billy and Janice Latimer were seated.

The usual get-acquainted conversation commenced as we waited for takeoff. Taxiing out to the runway was uneventful but as we gained speed, Janice reached over and gripped Billy’s hand like a vice. I could see she was a white-knuckle flyer so I grabbed her other hand tightly and we talked through the takeoff. That was the beginning of God’s “divine appointment” for us.

Our conversation began as strangers but over the next three hours or so we ended as friends. We discussed the usual: what I did and what she did; my kids and grandkids, her kids and grandkids; and of course the Lord and our walk with Him over the years. The more we talked the more warm and welcomed I was drawn into her space and she into mine. Several times our mouths would drop open at the coincidence of our lives. She met my daughter and granddaughters as we waited in baggage claim together and we promised to keep in touch.

Within a few weeks Janice, my sister Nan, and I were seated across from each other in a booth at O’Charley’s for lunch. I was living with my daughter in Memphis until I could decide what to do with my life. I really didn’t want to go back into my own home with all the upkeep and yard maintenance but I did want my independence. So I called Janice, a realtor with Keller-Williams, to get started on pre-approval for a loan.

We looked at several places and I even put down earnest money on a condo in Memphis. The seller backed out and we both agreed God had something better for me. Each place turned out to be nicer than the one before so we knew God, as always, was directing our footsteps.  When it seemed the Memphis area was not agreeable to my wishes we turned to Cordova. I found my little dream house with a zero-lot line and a postage-stamp yard in a gated community less than half a mile from my granddaughter’s school. Since all the required paperwork had already begun, it went smoothly, or as smoothly as any real estate transaction can go in less than three weeks.

Janice gave me a beautiful welcome basket for my new home and I’m saving the bottle of Sparkling Apple-Grape for when she attends my Christmas party. I joined her today (Nov 3, 2015) for a business luncheon at Calvary Rescue Mission and she’s joining me Saturday (Nov 7, 2015) for the Harvest Tea at my church.

It’s been a wonderful “divine appointment” and I look forward to many more by God’s hand and direction.