Coincidence? I Think Not!

²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

“It’s a small world.” I hear that again and again when we cross paths with new friends who know old friends. Just recently, while in Michigan, we were staying with a family who had opened their home from the local church. As we chatted they talked about a friend of their son and as they described him we knew exactly that they were talking about Brandon – an MK to Belgium whose parents are from Georgia but who we had actually met in Springfield, MO because he was Alex’s camp counselor. We laughed at the irony that in the home of new friends we were connected to a young man who had never been to Michigan.

Recently I’ve seen God make connections for us that are so much more than coincidental. A few weeks ago I took Maggie to the orthodontist. With anxiety after I had heard friends talk about how expensive braces are, we went at the dentist’s request to see if Maggie needed braces. Knowing no particular orthodontist, we called the clinic they referred us to and took the first available appointment. I was very surprised when it turned out our orthodontist was from Colombia! What was even more incredible was that he understood our plans to move to Colombia and instead of trying to start treatment on Maggie he explained to me that it would be much less expensive in Colombia – and he connected me with an orthodontist in Medellin who had studied right here at Georgia Tech! Now when we arrive I will not have to worry about getting this all figured out as the orthodontist in Colombia is expecting us and is making a treatment plan alongside the orthodontist we saw here. Small detail, yes, but such a relief that it’s one less thing to worry about.

As we travel around it’s always a blessing to meet new people, but one connection we recently made had God’s fingerprints all over it. We were in Michigan for just a week and my sister asked me to meet a girl visiting from Costa Rica. She’s a physical therapist and was brought to the U.S. to help a patient after surgery. She didn’t really have anyone around who spoke Spanish so we visited for an evening and had a great time getting to know one another and talking about Costa Rica. I was sad to leave Michigan because we had started a great friendship but we had to get back to Atlanta for services. Just a couple of days after we arrived in Atlanta I received an anxious call from my sister. My new friend unexpectedly has to travel back to Costa Rica and the only flight she could get left her with an almost twelve hour overnight layover in Atlanta. Along with dealing with the stress of leaving unexpectedly she was very nervous about staying alone all night in the Atlanta airport. Fortunately, now that I’m in Atlanta, I can go get her tonight and give her a comfortable and safe bed to sleep in and get her back to the airport in the morning.

Isn’t God amazing?!? All of these little encounters along the way are not just in passing. God leads us – orders our steps – so that we can be a blessing to others walk in His love and so that we can be blessed as we open our hearts and lives to others.

~Tona