I am traveling from the Midwest, and currently in Arizona on my way to visit my family.  I made a two day stop in Tucson to relax a little before arriving at my mom’s.  I’m always on the go back home, between family life, and a busy work schedule, so this is me time, and I’m loving it to be honest.

I had initially planned on renting a car at the airport, had a reservation and all.  When I arrived at the rental counter they asked for my return ticket, which I didn’t have because I’m yet to make a reservation for my return, still undecided on the day.  They said, “we can’t rent you a car without a return plane ticket.” I considered booking a ticket back right then so I could solve my dilema, but then I decided I wasn’t going to let a stressful situation rush me into making a decision, and opted out for taking Uber instead.

Well, my Uber trips have been the frosting on the cake, the cherry on top, and everything else in between, but all in a very good way.

My very first Uber ride from the airport to a restaurant where I was meeting my friend and her family for brunch was driven by a very nice guy by the name of David who happened to have been born in Chicago, and in his early childhood moved to The Grand Canyon state.  Our trip was approximately 20 minutes and we talked nonstop!  As I left his car he said, “have a wonderful time with your momma, and family, and travel safe”, and as I greeted my friend with a hug and turned around to wave goodbye and say thank you, he smiled the biggest smile.

Uber trip 2 was a trip from the hotel to a nearby Target store to buy some toiletries I forgot to buy before my flight on Friday, I had been so busy, and rushed. It was ok, Target is pretty much the only store I don’t mind to shop at, and bonus, I for a hot latte with oat milk to sip while I shopped, I was so happy I wish I could’ve bottled that joy.  Anyways… Michael was my Uber driver #2 of this trip, and he was the nicest too! When he pulled up, he got out of the car to open the door for me, and the moment I got in he said, “you are my first ride!” I smiled and said, “of the day, or ever?” He excitedly said, “No, ever!!! I’ve never done this before, you are my first ride!” He started to tell me that he had retired from the air force as a plane mechanic, a profession he did for years, and he’s seen so much need for mental health help within Veterans that he decided to go back to school, and get a degree in psychology to become a counselor.  His goal is to do suicide prevention.  He also shared that he volunteers for hospice, and that his wife is an RN at the hospital. Of course, as I got out of the car when we reached my destination, I gave him all kinds of blessings, church lady style, and I wished him all the best. He was very appreciative of the prayers, and good wishes.

Uber ride #3 was driven by a lovely lady by the name of Cindi. We talked our hearts out from Target to our way back to the hotel.  She has three children, 2 boys, and 1 girl, and two of them are exactly the same age as my girls.  We talked about the challenges of parenting grown children, and the memories, and demands of raising a young family.  We got along so well, I was tempted to invite her over for coffee somewhere. 😁

Uber ride #4 was driven by a gentleman by the name of Yahia.  A quiet man, and he had the most beautiful, and inspiring Christian music on.  It was the evening when I took this ride, and I simply sat in the back, taking in the Arizona feels, and I let the music touch my soul.  As I got out I said “thank you for the ride, I really enjoyed the radio station you were playing.” He smiled and said, “yes, lovely music, isn’t it?”

Uber ride #5 was a nice lady by the name of Patricia, who gave me all the gossip of the town, lol! She was also curious about my visit here, which I kept short and simple, and curiously said that she had never heard of Mission San Xavier, and the restaurant I was visiting that day. She said, I’ve lived here for over 30 years, but this is the first time hearing about these places.  She said, “this place (Mission) looks nice, maybe I’ll visit sometime.

Uber ride #6 was a woman by the name of Susan who had over 1,200 trips in her Uber driving history. We said hello, goodbyes and that was about it, she meant business, and I was texting with my daughters, so the quietness worked out.

Uber ride #7, and the last ride of portion of the trip, was one of my favorite rides!  His name was John, and the moment I saw him I knew he was a nice person, you know, I’m sure you’ve gotten that vibe from people before.  This trip was the longest Uber ride I would take this week, so I was hoping it’d be a nice ride.  His car was impecable, and he had the best manners.  We got to talking, he asked me what I did for a living, I shared about my job as a “church lady”, and my recent visit to Mission San Xavier, and before I knew it we were fully engaged in conversation about faith, the history of Mission’s, Scripture, and the importance of being decent, and kind human beings.  John told me that he was part of a Christian church, Calvary Chapel, and he is currently in a group that gets together to read, and discuss Scripture. He shared how lovely their services are, and how much he learns, and gets out of his church every time he’s there. He was born an Episcopalian, but as an adult he became part of Calvary Chapel.  He proudly shared some history about Calvary, and it’s founder Chuck Smith, who started his ministry in Corona, California, but after not getting too much feedback, and involvement there,  he decided to move to Mesa, Arizona and start the church there.  He said that when he started the ministry, they had a nice place of worship, and they had just put in new carpet.  Back in those days (1978), it was the era of hippies, and some of them started visiting Calvary Chapel. According to John, some founders of Calvary Chapel did not like the idea of hippies frequenting their place of worship and sitting on the carpet with dirty feet, and an unkept appearance. Pastor Chuck immediately put a stop to their “concerns” and told them that either everyone was welcomed there, or nobody was, that Calvary Chapel would be a place of welcome for everyone, and a place where people came to share their faith, whether it was sitting on chairs, or the floor on their brand new carpets, clean, or dirty feet, it didn’t matter, what matter was that it would be a place of welcome.  The Uber driver smiled the biggest smile when he shared that. I shared some of my experiences at church, and what it has been like working there for over 25 years. As we approached the drop off destination he said, “it has been a pleasure talking with you, we both learned something today. God bless you, and your travels.” Indeed, a blessed day it was.

I was sharing some of these stories with a friend and he said, “maybe the car rental fiasco was no coincidence, and you were all meant to cross paths.”

I absolutely love meeting strangers, and making a connection in some way. We share more with one another than we think. We are all spiritual beings, having a human experience. ❤️