A Tiny Conversation

First, thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday! I loved hearing from so many Facebook friends! It has been a good day.

This morning I was in a department store, about to check out, when I noticed that one of the saleswomen had a name tag on that read "Wesli". This was not a young woman, probably 40 or older. It took me a moment to figure out it would be pronounced "Wesley." Ah! I said to myself. someone to engage with!!! (Just to let you know, I really don't need much of a reason to engage with strangers.)

I said to her, "I noticed your name--is it pronounced Wesley?"

Wesli said, "Yes. It is."

Me: "Huh...that reminds me of, like, John Wesley."

She: "That's right. There's been four generations of Wesleys in the family. It was my dad's idea to spell it with an "i".

Me: "Are you United Methodist?"

She: "Oh yes. I go to First Light in Gardner"(a fairly new new church start). "And sometimes to Nevada" (long "a" in the middle..must to Missouri? Not sure is there is one in Kansas)

Me: "Well, I'm a United Methodist clergywoman, the d.s. up here, actually."

She: "Oh really??? My mother's been the district lay leader for a long time" (I think her mom is in Gardner)... and then she paused, "Do you know you are the first one in seven years to get it about my name?"

Me: "Well, how about that. I'm glad I got it!"

And that was the end. Nothing really very profound about this encounter. You may have had a much deeper experience today. But it was a bit of light that shown for a moment for me, to have a sister in the faith name Wesli who knew what her name was and we both left smiling after our tiny chat.

So, no long involved ponderings on being 55; no really huge revelations today or new visions for my life to share, but just a tiny conversation. I liked it that way this year.