Anne, thanks for your stories. The one about the tree is so wild. Regarding your MIL, although I don't think angels are actually "whispering" to me, I do really like thinking about these moments as whispers, that we're often to busy to listen to. And I really like this conclusion you came to: "It’s our job to stand back and be open…"

Wendy, you inspired me to look up the definitions of "synchronicity" and "serendipity"—they're both words I tend to not use, and I realized I didn't really know exactly how they are different. You are absolutely right, "synchronicity" is the right word for these instances. It's too bad I can only think of The Police album when I hear the word, though!

Jessica, that's a really difficult thing to sort through. When I married my first husband because I thought I "was supposed to," and then when we moved to a place I didn't want to move to, because I thought I "was supposed to," I was really angry for a while. Since then, two important things have shifted in my understanding. One has to do with time passing, which has allowed me to see the bigger picture and understand things that I couldn't grasp when I was in the middle of the mess. The other is that I don't really believe in "fate" any more—at least not in the idea of a single destiny laid out for each of us. We have a lot of freedom, and I believe God has a lot of power to redeem anything we hand him, if we're open to it. 

Debby, "strolling with the lamb" is a great image. I'm also really glad you brought prayer into the discussion, and I like how you referenced "keeping a channel of the brain tuned to God’s station." Thanks so much for contributing your pieces of wisdom.

Joi, this seems exactly right: "...when we are ready and open to listening, we will begin to realize that over and over again we have previously ignored the gentle nudging to which we now are tuned in and listening." It is clear to me, when I look back on the most difficult times in my life, that I consciously did not want to listen. But at the same time, I was being cared for by God then too, in many subtle ways I probably did not even recognize at the time. It's very complicated!

Christine, with every comment I read, I am given a slightly new way to think about this, and wrap my mind around the issue! Your comment about "open[ing] ourselves up to the remarkable" reminds me that we need to believe that these moments can happen—even the most absurd, surprising of them. It's really a form of extra-creative hope, isn't it?