Chapter 13 – Godincidences
I have had a lot of close calls in my life. Big and small, where I know in my heart that God has intervened. In everyday life, these things happen all the time. Missing an accident on the highway because you lost your keys. A phone call made you late, so you were there for an emergency at your house. There are a thousand different scenarios. Is that completely random or is there something divine protecting you?
I’ve always loved this story because it has justified my love of gambling that started on this trip…
My parents LOVED to gamble. So, it was natural for them to take me to Vegas on my 21st birthday.
My mom’s first husband was in the Air Force and had died in a test flight. Because of this, she was pretty nervous on airplanes. My dad was a pilot himself and loved to fly and I shared that love as well. We decided to buy tickets on an airplane tour over the Grand Canyon while in Vegas. My Mom wanted no part of this… so it was just my dad and me.
The day before we were supposed to go on the tour, I convinced my dad to take a craps class with me. I’d seen that game in the casino but neither of my parents had played and it looked like fun to me. The casino had a free class where you could play with play money and not lose anything to learn. I fell in love with it! My Dad liked it but not as much as I did. So, he went back to playing slots and I went on my first craps adventure.
I was so successful that I didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning. My parents were not so happy with me that it was so late, but when they saw all the chips they just laughed and told me to go to bed.
I woke up and my parents had left a note that they were at breakfast. So, I got ready and went downstairs… I had completely forgotten about the flight we booked over the Grand Canyon. My Dad was teasing me that he hoped it was worth it to miss my only chance to see it. We laughed and finished breakfast and went back to the casino and didn’t think twice about it.
Later that afternoon we got back to the hotel room to several desperate messages from my family. Apparently, the exact plane that we had booked, and didn’t show up for, had crashed and killed everyone on it. We were just stunned…
There wasn’t anything as dramatic as a voice telling us not to get on that plane. But, I believe with all my heart that God put me in circumstances to avoid that accident. Why am I saved and not those people? I wish I knew the answer to that question… maybe it is to write this book to hopefully convince at least one of God’s existence. I wasn’t done yet. And, neither are you… If you are still breathing, He has a purpose for your life.
Was it a coincidence that I happened to stay out gambling and slept late? I don’t think so… It was a Godincidence.
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I was lucky enough to live overseas with one of my best friends in my twenties. I had made some money and was not married and didn’t have any kids, so I thought it was the time to do it if I was ever going to have that chance. It was a decision that changed my life, and I have cherished all of those memories.
Travel expands your universe and life. It gives you greater understanding of others and evidence of how vast and how amazing God’s creation truly is.
We had rented a car and were touring in Spain. Our plan was to make it all the way down to the Rock of Gibraltar and then take the boat over into Morocco. We were going to spend a few days shopping and eating there and then take a flight to Istanbul. We had a friend from there and his family could help us if we got in trouble.
We made it to Sevilla (which was amazing)! While there, we heard that the president of Morocco had fallen over dead in New York with a heart attack. We had some friends in Brussels that were Moroccan, so we called them to ask if it was still safe to go.
They told us it was completely safe. However, they were fasting because they were mourning. So, no restaurants and all the shops were closed. Hmmm… I think we can come up with a better plan. We thought ok, we will just get back to Madrid and try to go straight to Istanbul from there.
We were literally sitting in the Madrid airport trying to change our tickets, when my friend received an urgent call from her work. She was in network management, and they needed her to come back immediately to fix some issues that had come up. So, we changed our ticket to go back to Brussels and just thought we would regroup from there.
We made it home that night and when we woke up Istanbul was all over the news. There had been a massive earthquake there that killed thousands of people.
Was it a coincidence that her work diverted us? I don’t think so… It was a Godincidence.
These are two drastic examples, but as I said, I think these things happen every day. Ask God to show you, how He has protected you and guided you. Ask Him to do so and reveal it to you. You will be surprised to see how He has and does have His hand on you.