October 28, 2014
After a restful stop and meeting new friends in Branson, Missouri, our journey carried us southward into the historic town of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hot Springs is best known for its natural thermal springs, elegant bathhouses dating back to the early 20th century and was even the boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton. For us, Hot Springs will be known for Julie.
When we arrive at new destinations along the way, we usually tend to keep a keen eye out for local stores and supermarkets, a place where we can restock our much needed supplies and by doing so it gives us an opportunity to mingle with the locals. In Hot Springs we went to a small regional chain of grocery stores to shop. This is where we met Julie.
Soon after filling our buggy with a few sale items and the essential supplies we were looking for, we headed to the checkout to make our exit. As we were coming to the front, as we typically do, we were spying the checkout lanes for the easiest escape route and headed to the only register with no customers in line. The cashier greeted us with a smile and some pleasantries as she began scanning the items in the shopping cart. Usually when we find ourselves in these settings we like to ask about the area and what there is to do. Although our cashier didn’t have much to offer outside of the touristy stuff, because she wasn’t originally from the area, it did open up a conversation about what brought her to Hot Springs.
Julie was originally from a small town in north Arkansas. It wasn’t long before she revealed to us the reason she moved to Hot Springs. Julie was facing some serious health issues, issues that were potentially life threatening. Thankfully, Hot Springs offered her the medical attention that she needed to recover. And although it was a long, hard recovery process (including learning to walk again), she did recover. And as she claimed, God was definitely looking out for her and helped her through the entire journey.
When we were fortunate enough to run into Julie that day, it had only been five days since she had been able to return to work. Five days. How cool is that? She couldn’t hide her gratefulness for the opportunity to stand behind that cash register and graciously serve every customer with a welcoming smile, positive attitude and friendly conversation. We were blessed to meet her that day. Amazing how opportunities can present themselves when your heart is in the right place. Before even exiting the store, we were brimming with excitement and plotting what we could do for Julie. It just so happens, we were in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In the early 20th century, these natural thermal hot springs were routed into these elegant bathhouses and used as health spas, not only for the rich and famous, but were also medically prescribed to ailing patients by doctors. It was obvious what we needed to do. The next day we headed to bathhouse row and proceeded to purchase a certificate from Buckstaff, one of the still existing original bathhouses left on this infamous row.
Unfortunately, Julie wasn’t at the store at the time we meant to give her this small gift. So we left it with the customer service manager, along with some kind words about Julie and proceeded along our way. It wasn’t long before Julie responded back to us, thankful that we were thinking of her and of course for the certificate to the bathhouse. Truth is, we were the ones who were thankful just to have the opportunity to meet Julie. She is an inspiration to our family.
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