I met, Melinda, this beautiful woman at a networking event in Nashville, Tennessee. Melinda is a successful event planner for music festivals who owns her own company. She also hosts an eighty hour Tour Preparedness training for artists to get ready for upcoming tours. As I learned more and more about Melinda, her testimony moved me in the most genuine way. Our conversation started like any other, "what do you do?, where are you from?" etc, etc. As our conversation continued, I discovered that she overcame homelessness and lived out of her car for months on end. When I asked how she got through that season of her life, she quickly replied "it was God who had my back the whole way." I probed her further and I asked what happend to her company during this period of her life and she replied "it's always been there, it never left me."
I was wearing my Giving Keys necklace that said Faith on it that night. I grabbed the key that was hanging around my neck and I felt a clench in my chest as I listened to her recount moments of sleeping in her car during the winter. In this moment, I felt compelled to take off my necklace, and I asked if I could give it to her as a gift. She accepted. This is a woman who is a true example of a woman walking in faith when the odds were stacked against her (or so it seemed). She told me she's never really had a chance to share her story and doesn't talk about it that much. I'm so honored to have met her and heard her story. That key was given to me as a gift almost a year ago and has reminded me over the past year to just let go and walk in faith. I couldn't imagine a more perfect person to give it to than Melinda. I'm so thankful that she allowed me share her story and I don't think she even realized the amount of inspiration she poured into me that night. A person transitioning out of homelessness who works at the Giving Keys made this necklace for me, but little did they know they were actually making it for Melinda.
-Angie
