Connections

I'm pretty sure I have written about not believing in coincidences. I like to pay attention to all the little things going on around me and believe that all those tiny, little, intricate happenings are for a reason. It seems like whenever I am missing somebody or really needing a pick-me-up, I find a sign. Something always occurs to let me know that we are all connected, that we all have a purpose and that the people who are in my life are there on purpose. It isn't just some random chaotic situation, even if I feel like it is sometimes.

So onto my point--the reason I bring this up. Lately I had been feeling kind of lonely and missing my friends and family (who seem to keep flinging themselves all over the country). And it seems like it is harder and harder to stay in touch with some of them. I had been feeling really down about a few friends in particular who I used to talk with all the time, for hours on end. I finally got to get together with one of them a week or so ago, but our third party girl could not make it :( I began thinking that this is just how life is. Sometimes your best friend for years becomes an acquaintance and even though that feeling broke my heart, I knew that this kind of thing happens to many people. And hey, why should I be any different?

Then I got a message on Myspace this week. Yes, I do Myspace. It is a great way to keep up with people I haven't seen in a long time. Anyway, the message was from my long, lost friend. She had noticed my Henry Ford quote I have posted as my personal quote on my profile: Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--You're right. I love this quote because it is so true. I even printed it onto a big piece of paper to put up in my office for students to look at. I think it is so important to realize that your attitude really does affect the outcomes in your life. My friend saw this quote and said, "I have that same quote hanging in my classroom for the students to see."

And when I read that, it gave me the warm fuzzies. I didn't know she had ever read that quote, and I am sure she never knew I had, either. Yet we both found it and thought it was inspirational enough to hang somewhere for others to see. Some might say it is just a coincidence, but I don't. It reminded me why we were friends in the first place. We get each other. We think alike and even when we don't think alike, we can still understand the way the other one is thinking. And even though we live far apart and don't have time for hour long phone conversations anymore, we are still connected.

I think too many people these days are too busy to stop and think of all the little things in the universe that are trying to cheer them up. They may be small things, but if you pay attention you may be surprised by how often the ordinary things in life can give you a new appreciation for a situation. Maybe it was your favorite song that came on the radio right after you had a fight with your husband. Maybe it was your mom's pumpkin bread recipe that magically reappeared the day you were really missing her. Maybe it was an old friend calling out of nowhere when you really needed someone to talk to, or wild flowers blooming in your yard when you didn't have time to plant anything. There are so many different ways God can talk to us and through us... you just have to be open to them.

Ok, preaching over now...