Mantua and Mike
what a lovely day it was at Art on the Hill in Mantua on saturday . While the sky was overcast, the crowds were big, and the atmosphere was fun.
We were a bit late arriving for set up…expected at 8am, we overslept and thank God we had packed the might before…because we left our house well after 8am. But we arrived around 9 and were set up by 9:30ish. And as these things go there was 1 inch when we arrive for setup …another vendor has set up between her booth clearly and squarely in the middle of our space. I confirmed the number of our booth space and then clarified with that vendor that we had that number . we speculate she thought we would not arrive and pick the best most level spot between her assigned place and outs. she was willing to move to her correct location which allowed us to set up. The location was a nice space on the descending portion of the hill .
our neighbors to the left where wood workrrs who made objects out of turned wood …ornaments, pens, bottle stoppers and the like.
our neighbors on the right side sold cleveland memorabilia, such as big chuck and little john memorabilia , and everything relayed to ghoilardi. A tv movie host in Cleveland in the early 1960s. they were a semi retired couple who were a lot of fun .
we had a very interesting visitor that reminded of that the world is a lot larger than we imagine . A man showed up at our booth at around 1130 am , askimg a lot of questions about how our soap is made and processed. He then told Steve that he plans to pray for our business. We thanked him for his kindness, and as Steve chatted with him we became incredibly busy…sales came from apparently nowhere. This guy excused himself and indicated he would be back. Each time he ce back we got incredibly busy. This happened 3 times. Finally he returned and handed Steve a small card…he had written down his prayer request. Cancer survivor, battles deep depression, history of bi-polar and a new found faith in God. Steve offered to pray for him and he accepted the offer. Right in our booth they prayed…and again something amazing happened..a family…mom, dad and 2 kids joined us, bowed their heads and prayed with us. And again we had a burst of business…wow, amazing.
What astonished me is that this guy, Mike, knew we are Christian. There is nothing in or on our booth that tells anyone that.
The amazing day taught us to be open to opportunities to encourage others. So Mike, we continue to pray for you. We know God has a plan to see you through and you were saved from cancer for a purpose…a great purpose. We pray our paths will cross again, so we can see the answers to your and our prayers. May God lift you from depression and wipe away the bi-polar issues so you are free to live, work, enjoy life.
And so we told a few friends about this “god moment” and every one of them asked
“Hmm, Do you think Mike was or could have been an angel?”. I don’t have that answer….but what if he was? Wow, that could not be any cooler of a thong to happen to us. Angel or human, Mile left a deep impression on us.