VIDALIA — If Teri Edwards helps just one person navigate the winding road of life as someone did for her nearly two years ago, her friend Mitzi Hendricks knows God’s plan has worked.

Edwards nominated Hendricks as a Caring Woman, an event that honors local women for their community service in six different categories. Peers nominate the women and a selection committee chooses one Caring Woman recipient per category.

Edwards nominated Hendricks for the Volunteer category. And though she wasn’t selected as the Caring Woman for that category, Edwards said Hendricks serves the community in a number of ways.

“I told her at the luncheon that I could have put her name down for any of those and it would have been right,” Edwards said. “She’s brought me a long way and I know she’s done the same for a lot of other people, so I wanted her to be recognized for that.”

Edwards and Hendricks work together at Concordia Medical Center in Vidalia, but have known each other since they were children, growing up together in Natchez.

Edwards said she leaned on Hendricks greatly nearly two years ago after Edwards had made the decision to go back to school after working more than 17 years in retail.

“I needed something else to do with my life, and it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my life, but I told myself I was going to do it,” Edwards said. “After I graduated, I still wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision, and then Mitzi called me.”

Hendricks was initially offering Edwards a job at the medical center, but ended up providing a lot more.

“I had taken some wrong turns in life and was trying to get back on the right track, and the call from Mitzi just changed everything,” Edwards said. “She’s really brought me a long way, not only at work but helping me get more involved at church and just getting back on the right track.”

Hendricks, who was fighting back tears while Edwards talked about the series of events two years ago, said she was humbled by the Caring Woman nomination.

“I have a really hard time accepting compliments or praise, but a long time ago someone told me you should take each compliment someone gives you and accept it as if someone was giving you a flower,” Hendricks said. “You take each of them and at the end of the day you have a beautiful bouquet that you can give back to the one who rightfully deserves it and that is Jesus Christ.”

Apart from being a loyal friend to Edwards, Hendricks also helps lead a volunteer mission group for her church, First Baptist Church in Vidalia. The group members travel to cities, such as Nashville and New Orleans, and try to help those in need.

“I’ve been in a position where I needed someone to help me, so this is just my way of being able to give back,” Hendricks said. “When you think you’re in a hopeless situation, sometimes you just need someone else to tell you it’s not hopeless.”

Hendricks said she is also an advocate of the pay-it-forward style of living, where those who have received help in the past attempt to help others in the future.

As Edwards prepares to move to Hattiesburg in the coming weeks to be closer to family, Hendricks said she’s sad about losing a dear friend but knows it’s all happening for a reason.

“We’re all part of a really big plan, and God is the grand author of all our lives,” Hendricks said. “I hate to lose her, but I’m so proud of her, and I know she can take the things she’s gone through in her life and help mentor someone else who is in the same situation she was in.”