As always, Brenda Rivera started her day by typing an inspirational message to send to the contacts in her phone. This 2009 October morning, she chose a Bible verse: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of the others.
But before Brenda could hit send, she got a phone call, then got busy at work. She ended up sending the message blast later than usual.
When she did, the Georgia resident received a quick reply that read: Amen to that. Who is this?
Brenda had recently returned from visiting her family in Ohio and had met some of her sister’s friends and exchanged phone numbers with one of them. Assuming that was who had received her message, she replied: Hey, it’s Brenda, Roxy’s sister. Remember me?
Isaiah Stearns did live in Dayton, Ohio, not far from Brenda’s mom and sister. But he didn’t know them. And he actually had only gotten this new phone number some 20 minutes before Brenda’s text arrived. So he knew whoever sent it had the wrong number. But he was moved by the text and intrigued by the writer.
We’ve never met, but by the looks of your text, I can see that you love God. That’s awesome, Isaiah replied.
This story is from the August 14, 2023 edition of Woman's World.
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This story is from the August 14, 2023 edition of Woman's World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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