Pastor's Perspective - Serendipity is God

Webster defines the word ‘serendipity’ as ‘the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for’.

I have another definition for the word – Serendipity is God

As modern-day believers in God, we believe whole-heartedly that God does all things with great intention; that all we perceive and discover didn’t just happen. In other words, there are no accidents!

Recently my family and I witnessed His goodness and unbridled kindness in an unforgettably heart-warming way.

Our 10-year-old daughter Lily has had a pen pal relationship with a little boy in central Florida named Andon for approximately seven months. He is the son of dear friends from one of our former ministries. When the pen pal thing began, we as Lily’s parents honestly wondered how long it would last. It seems like with so many entertaining high-tech options available to our kids these days, old school letter-writing would probably go by the wayside. However, much to our surprise and pleasure, Lily and Andon have been consistent long distance friends. For instance, recently while driving across the country, Lily sent Andon a postcard from every state. Likewise, Andon will send photos of himself, pictures he’s drawn and stickers. It’s amazingly sweet to see Lily race to the mailbox daily. As soon as she receives a letter from  Andon she immediately replies. The neatest part is that Lily has never met Andon. We moved out of Andon’s hometown when Lily was just two years old and Andon a baby.

Here’s where it gets really cool.

A few weeks ago my family and I flew to Florida for our niece’s big sweet sixteenth birthday party and to spend some treasured family reunion-time at a gulf coast beach. While spending a few days in Wauchula with great fiends, our kids were invited to attend their annual vacation bible school program. Naturally Lily was eager to go! While sitting in her classroom as the new kid nobody knew, a cute little boy noticed her from across the room and decided to do what Jesus would do – befriend her. Their conversation went something like this.

“Hi. My name is Andon. What’s your name?”

“I have a pen pal named Andon. He lives here in Florida.”

“I have a pen pal too! Her name is Lily. She lives in California.”

“I’m Lily! And I’m from California!”

Lily immediately began crying and the two embraced.

Didn’t I tell you it was cool?!

God is amazing. His kindness to intersect the paths of two little children was yet another reminder of how big, loving and intentional He really is. He’s good and He cares.

Let me remind you of a few important things.

You are who you are by His design.

You like what you like, live where you live, and know who you know, because He wills it.

There are no coincidences.

There are no accidents.

Serendipity is God.