While cycling yesterday, my mind flowed over the memory of many small miracles. Aura attended a high school prom last night, which facilitated not only the need to get a prom dress, but to make it match her date's attire. Countless texts, with photos of ties and dresses, passed between them in an effort to coordinate such a feat. The day before the prom, I spent a happy, yet miserable, (as I had my 3 youngest children age three and under with us) two hours at a dress shop while Aura tried on dresses. She found one, actually two that worked, which was great because she has another prom this Saturday. Did I mention that we were renting the dresses and that due to last minute preparation, selection and "matching" attire was very limited? We were locked in to a certain color scheme as he was wearing a royal blue tie and already had purchased a matching corsage. In the scramble, all I could think about was the fact that I have four daughters, innumerable proms and four weddings, with all the dresses that go with them, in my future. That's another post in itself! I felt like it was a miracle when we finally left the store with a dress that worked! Here is the result of all that effort:
They look great, and they match! The miracle I thought of however, is one of complete serendipity--an effortless, happy "accident," completely unplanned, but perfect. Actually, I thought of several and they progressively became grander in scale as my mind became aware of the principle. The first was this small miracle of serendipity. Shawn and I went on a double date with Aura and our friend, Taylor, to see "Savior of the World" last November. On the way in to the Conference Center, I stopped them on the sidewalk to take a picture:
In that moment, as they stood next to each other, I said "Hey, you guys match!" It was the first anyone noticed as it was very random and completely unintentional. It was just a funny little "coincidence." There was no pre-planning. In fact, Aura was even running late and threw on her hurried ensemble in a ten minute rush. To find that Taylor's tie and pants matched her outfit perfectly was just uncanny. After spending all that time purposefully trying to create the same "matchiness effect" for prom, I see that it was one of those simple miracles. It reminded me of another. While filming "Stand Strong," we needed to get a family photo of the main characters to hang on the wall for the ending scene. We had a very limited time schedule to get it and the actors all had very busy schedules. I sent out an email to each actor detailing the day and time of the pics, praying they could all make it as it was just two days before filming began. The only instructions I gave were to wear a bright colored, solid shirt and jeans. I repeat, that was the only instruction. With no further coordination on my part, or from one actor to another, this is what we got:
A rainbow! Take that, "Pride Movement!" was what went through my mind as they assembled on the sofa. If you can believe it, I was actually wearing a purple shirt that day. This was just one of the many miracles we witnessed on the "Stand Strong" project. I saw how small, seemingly insignificant occurrences like matching clothing can really mean something on some grander spiritual level. Obviously miracles occur in more than just matching. The principle of finding miracles in the mundane is broader, universal, and eternal. I noticed the presence of a small miracle when my ipod was stuck on random play. By miraculous design, I always got the right song at the right time while running up a steep hill or pushing the final two minutes of exercise where I was attempting to finish strong and I really needed something energetic and inspirational to make it to the end. I couldn't have chosen the songs better had I been able to scroll them and select them myself in the moment. I would laugh until I cried as I crested the hill. I've also seen these small miracles at work in potluck dinners. Nearly each month over the past three years, there has been a potluck dinner for LAW Night, a women's support and social group I started to learn homemaking skills. With each month's invitation I have asked for a potluck item to be shared at a meal the first hour. Without fail, month after month, I have witnessed what I've come to term as the "power of the potluck." Every time without any further instruction than to bring your favorite main dish, salad or dessert, a balanced meal always arrived. All were amazed when one woman brought tortilla soup, another, chili, several brought salads, desserts, and someone brought cornbread. It was a totally perfect meal. No one coordinated what she would bring, only felt inspired to bring the item she brought.I noticed the same principle at work the the large scale decisions of my life, including family size. Shawn and I made an early decision to trust the Lord about the number of children He chose to send into our family, as well as the timing He chose for us to finish. I internalized the reality that the witnessing of miracles is completely conditional upon faith. Otherwise, things that happen seem "coincidental."
Also in contemplating all these small miracles, another principle became clear. They can't be forced or over-planned. That is exactly what makes them miraculous, their unseemly, totally timely perfection that is better than expected, or what one could have created through their own best plan. That's the whole purpose of the miracle, to lead one to a Higher Source, a recognition that one could not have planned it better if they purposefully tried. Miracles always point to Divinity.
I noticed that in each case where a miracle was present, there was some plan in place, but never a very strict, over-scheduled, or forced plan. I like to call it a "vague plan." I am a huge fan of the vague plan. Plans that leave no room for serendipity make us miss the best part of life, the recognition of the hand of the Lord in it. Don't get me wrong. I am a natural planner and I love details, but I have learned that the Lord has better plans than I do and that if I have a plan that is tight enough to give me peace and allow for progress, but loose enough to let Him fill in the details, that it is the best kind of plan. Sometimes MY plan has been delayed, changed, or completely obliterated because the Lord has something else in mind entirely. Learning to seek, listen to, and trust His guidance brings the greatest peace and joy. He will make more of our gifts, talents and lives than we could ever do on our own.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to thine own understanding.
In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
Another favorite:
"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
The way I conceptualize that quote is to look for miracles in the mundane. This synonym to Emerson's famous quote has a little more alliteration to it and is consequently quite catchy to recall. :) There is nothing so mundane as to not contain a miracle. Consider a spider's web or a busy ant hill.
Moses 6:63
And behold, all things have their likeness; and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things that are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.
Miracles bear witness of Christ, not only His existence, but His love for us as He helps direct all for our individual good. This is demonstrated by all those little "coincidences" that happen to each of us. Miracles are nods of approval from a loving God. Look for them. They are abundant!
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