doing what's right in front of you

I was looking for a picture frame at Goodwill. Gotta be the size 12 by 17. Found one for a couple of bucks. Back at home, I was getting ready to strip the picture out of the frame when I noticed the backing was glued on. Realizing that this had been professionally done, I gave the picture a closer look. It was a child's watercolor of the nativity scene...big smiles on the three wise men's faces.
I inspected the backing closer and saw that there was a bit of faint writing in the corner. "Drawn by Peter Schmeltz, age 5." And the framing shop was in Detroit, Michigan.
Well, given the fact that I had purchased this frame to frame a picture from my childhood that I had just stumbled upon, I paused. What the heck--I'll google this guy's name and see what comes up.
And, I found him: Peter Schmeltz, a music professor at a university in St. Louis. And an email address, too.
Hi Peter,
This probably will rank as one of the more unusual emails you'll probably receive...
I recently purchased a picture at a Good WIll store. Bought it for the frame. The picture is a hand-drawn self=portrait of a young boy and, on the back, it says Peter Scmeltz, age 5, and was framed at a shop in Michigan. I was just going to throw it away, but then got to thinking....so I googled it and found you. Thought I'd mention it in case you are this boy all grown up and in case you're wanting the picture. I'll wait a day or two until I hear back from you.
~martin

And I waited--more than a day or two--and he wrote back. He was surprised, of course, and couldn't imagine how something he drew as a kid could end up out at a Good will in Eastern Washington, but mused that he did grow up in the Detroit area, so he thought that it might be his.

I offered to box it up and send it to him, just in case in might be. And it turns out that it was. He recognized it right away as something he drew in first grade and gave to his teacher....

So, let's connect some of the dots here: I'm searching for a frame to frame a drawing from my childhood when I come across a picture from someone elses childhood. It's of baby Jesus in the manger, and here we are in the middle of Advent.

So what's this mean for Peter? I don't know. Perhaps he's estranged from family and this will bring healing. Maybe he's grown away from the religion of his childhood and this will remind him of the true meaning of Advent. Maybe this won't mean much of anything at all.

Most likely, this won't be revealed to me. That's okay. I am just supposed to do what's right in front of me and trust that there is purpose in the way God has woven the fabric of our lives together.