"Coincidence"??? I Think Not

I have long since stopped believing in coincidence, instead seeing Divine intervention in many things. Sometimes it is subtle, and other times it is so obvious that to proclaim it as anything other than God working would be ridiculous. Today was one of those days when coincidence collided with faith, and faith won out.

I had two incidences that were equally incredible, but I will only share one here as the other is more personal in nature and something I am not at all yet ready to tackle understanding myself.

We were working on one remaining document for our adoption paperwork so that we could mail off Stage 1. We had to locate our first placement agency for Matthew, which had ceased to operate a few years ago when the owner elected to move on to greener pastures and leave adoption work all together. We needed to sign a release so that information could be shared and provide a contact address and phone number. Not knowing where to start, Dominick called the Secretary of State in Kansas where the agency operated, and after being transferred a few times and explaining in triplicate our circumstances, we were provided with a contact number for our former agency Director. I phoned her, leaving a message explaining why I was calling and hung up, thinking nothing more about it, hoping we would hear from her sometime in the next couple of days.

Later in the day I received an email from her, and looking forward to a nice chat after about 5 years since having last spoken I phoned her at the number provided. What ensued was nothing short of the aforementioned Divine Intervention.

Nancy picked up the phone and within a moment or two said that when she heard my phone message at work, she literally had a shiver run up her spine as just the morning before she had been looking for our contact information. Now mind you, it has been about 5 years since we last spoke with one another...what are the odds that I would be contacting her hours after she was looking to contact me? We chatted, catching up on what is going on in our lives, and eventually came back to why she had been looking for our phone number. We were talking about how we only make it over to Denver once a year, sometimes twice...and she asked what time of year we usually go. I said usually late summer or fall, but this year was a little weird because of other things going on in our life. She said she had been trying to call us because she and her family were planning a trip to Denver as well, and she wondered how far we were from there.

I asked "When are you going to be in Denver?"

She replied "The first week of August."

To which I squealed out a loud "No Way!!"...we are going to be in Denver ourselves the first week of August as we will drive out for Adoption Alliance's Kyrgyz family picnic to be held on the 3rd, which is the day she will arrive in Denver. Both of our families will be there on Monday as well, and both of us have no plans for that day...so we do have plans now to spend it together!

Coincidence? I think not.

This goes so far beyond the realm of coincidence that it is almost frightening.

Later, Dominick and I talked about this and other "coincidences" that have occurred recently and we realized we are walking in a very odd and unusual place right now. It is a time for us when we almost expect these things to happen, as they are so frequent that we have ceased to be amazed and have moved well beyond that to recognizing God's enormous power in our life at the moment. There are things that happen that just go beyond all explanation, and this was one of them...and the other event which I will not share but which also happened today was another very firm way of God speaking to us.

To say I am in awe is not enough. To say I am in a state of suspended disbelief would be totally incorrect, as it is more accurate that I should say I am in a "State of Total Belief". We walk away from these occurrences shaking our heads, smiling, and feeling somehow guided and protected...and laughingly in complete agreement with those who have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a coincidence.

We hadn't had contact in almost 5 years. The day before we try to contact her, she is trying to contact us. We learn we will be in the same city on the same day far away from our homes...and that we will have the same day free to spend with one another.

Yea, "coincidence"...sure...that's all it is.