Cool Coincidences

Greetings, Readers.

Yeah, I know, this is a lot of posting for one day for me, but there seems to be a small handful of things I have to talk about, most of which don’t really fit together. So, here’s this post. Kind of a small thing really, but I just thought it would be interesting to share.

Yesterday was Sunday, of course. So, of course I wasn’t able to post this then, as Sundays don’t typically work well as posting days for me. (Read about it here.) In any case, I did go to church yesterday, as usual. A couple interesting things just sort of lined up during my time there that I’d like to share.

First, on the way to church, my sister asked me to help her cram for the test we were expected to have in School of Leaders that morning. Part of the test (we thought) was expected to include several memory verses that we were supposed to have gotten throughout the course of the semester. I personally slacked a lot on that part of the class, as apparently did my sister. So, while we were in the car, I took out my School of Leaders book and started calling out verses for my sister to remember. Near the end of the list, I came across one that I had expected her to know easily, as it is one of the primary scripture verses to remember in the Christian faith – particularly more so in our church, as this is what the church’s vision is based on. So, I told her “Here’s an easy one – Matthew 28:19.” She didn’t know it. Of course, there’s many verses in the Bible that one may recognize without knowing offhand the scripture reference for it, so I tried another approach. “C’mon, it’s the Great Commission! You’ve got to know that one!” Still, she was clueless. So, I told her:

Matthew 28:19

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Then, it took her a good couple minutes going through it to remember the whole verse verbatim. Shortly after, we got to church and went up to take our tests. At the end of the test, Pastor Rob announced a few bonus questions. The last question was “What scripture is known as The Great Commission?” My sister is so toasted if she got that one wrong!

Another interesting coincidence where I was able to help someone in church that day, without originally anticipating that I would be helping them, occurred in the entryway to the church after class. I was mingling around there, waiting for the next service to start, when I ran across one of the guys in my cell group (whom we are calling JF) with his wife. After a minute of talking with JF, my cell group leader’s wife came over and started talking to JF’s wife. During that conversation, I heard my cell group leader’s wife mention something about being self-conscious of her “coffee breath”. During that moment, I happened to have my hands in my pocket, and my fingers ran across a sample packet of Orbit gum that had come along with a sandwich I had had at work for dinner. I usually keep a pack or two of Trident White with me for after-dinner chewing, so I’d just tucked the Orbit away and not thought much about it. Figuring the last thing a pregnant woman needs to worry about is her “coffee breath”, I pulled out the sample gum and offered it to my cell group leader’s wife, who graciously accepted it and immedately opened the package and started chewing the gum.

So, let’s recap.

1. I have my favorite sandwich for dinner at work, which just happens to currently include a sample of breath-freshening chewing gum.

2. On the way to church, I give my sister a hard time, like the loving big brother that I am, for not recognizing a key Christian memory verse.

3. The aforementioned memory verse pops up as a bonus question on our test later, and my sister gets to nail it!

4. I end up being able to give the aforementioned piece of gum to a pregnant woman in need.

Isn’t it amazing how God can just line things up for you to do without you realizing it?