JUST a COINCIDENCE?

            I've heard it said that there are no coincidences, that everything happens for a reason.  I've also heard that we are not alone, that we are constantly surrounded by our spirit relatives and friends who are veiled from our conscious, mortal minds, who are doing all they can to help and guide us.  I believe they are able to speak to our spirit, but they have a hard time getting through to our distracted, hard-headed mortal selves. 

  

         

            Yesterday, I had an "ah-ha" moment.  I was in Oregon, so that I could pick up 300 lbs of beef from my aunt in Eagle Creek.  In my prayer that morning I had asked Heavenly Father to protect me and help me live by the spirit.

            After leaving my aunt's house, when I came to the stop sign, the thought came to me that I could turn left and visit the cemetery where my grandparents and uncle and other relatives are buried.  It's been a long time since I did that, and I wasn't in any hurry, so I did.  After finding their graves, I thought about them and how much I love them.  I shed a few tears, feeling that they were near me at that moment. I was about to leave when I thought, I should take a photo.  I pulled out my phone and took a couple pictures of the gravestones.  When I noticed my shadow in one of the shots, I thought, that might be an interesting addition to one of the pictures.  I shot one and went back to the car. Out of the glare of the sun, I could view the pictures I'd taken and actually see them. The one with my shadow looked like a bird creature was approaching the stone, so I went back to re-shoot. 

Just then, the sun went behind a cloud, so I had to wait it out until the clouds passed by.  I finally got my shadow photo and left, stopping briefly to reply to a text from my son.  

Then I got on the road.  At one point, I got a little confused so stopped to consult my GPS.  Once I knew where I was, I began thinking, should I stop at REI in Jantzen Beach to buy the walking shoes I need, or should I just get them at the REI in Olympia?  Well, I had pretty much determined that I would go to Jantzen Beach, but when I got to the exit, I changed my mind suddenly and just kept going, thinking, never mind, I'll just go straight home.

            When I was about ten miles south of Vader, I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw--Yikes!--a yellow jacket flying back and forth along the back window.  Now I'm thinking, I need to stop and get him out!  Another glance, he's still there. Another glance, I can't see him.  Then, I feel the lightest touch of my hair.  I look in the mirror.  He's sitting on my hair!  Now, what?  I roll down the windows hoping he will blow off and be sucked out the window.  No such luck, it only makes him hang on tighter.  I see a sign, Rest Area 2 Miles. After I get past the semi truck, I move over to the right lane. The bee is still there.  I'm getting off at the rest area.  I pull into a parking space and put the car in 'park'.  Okay, how do I get it off my hair without getting stung?  I notice a wadded up napkin, grab it, and watching in the mirror, I hold it in front of the yellow jacket. He walks right onto the napkin, no fuss, no bother.  I quickly shake him off outside the window.  I roll up the windows, turn off the engine and wait just a moment to make sure the yellow jacket is gone.  Then I get out to visit the restroom--may as well, since I'm here.

            As I'm walking back to my car, a young woman approaches me and apprehensively, says, "Can I ask you a question?"  In a lower tone she says, "You seem safe."

            I smile and say brightly, "You can ask!"

            She explains how she is trying to get to Ferndale and that her fuel light came on and she can't get her debit card to work and she's out of cash.

            I say, "I can give you a couple of dollars."

            She thanks me and says she called some friends and they told her to stand with a sign to beg for money, "but that would be too humiliating," she said.

            I had her show me on the map where she was trying to get to.  I did some quick calculating in my head and said, "I can give you $10." 

            When I gave her the money, she thanked me profusely saying, "I will pay it forward."

            I wished her well and left.

            The moment I got back on the freeway, it hit me...like a swirling gathering of information that accumulated in my mind in a matter of seconds.  "OH!" I exclaimed out loud.  All the circumstances and all the decisions I had made that day, and then the yellow jacket--that wondrous, obedient, displaced yellow jacket--had brought me to be in that place at that moment.           Coincidence?   I think not.

More proof that God loves ALL of His children!