As a 37-year-old single lady living in downtown Chicago, I would escape by going to my dear friend’s Grand Rapids, Ohio, main street, second story apartment, that had a patio out back with a view of a canal and a gorgeous Riverwalk on the bank of the Maumee River. We would sit on the swings on that Riverwalk and pray over lists of attributes for our future husbands.
On my 12th visit four years later, my friend told me she was moving away and that she was going to elope and have a wedding celebration a year later. I was sad as an era ended. As I was walking from the apartment toward the swing, there was an adorable cat. That cat walked the whole way with me and jumped up on my lap after I sat on the swing all morning. I named that cat Kiss because he was a kiss and sign from God. I had the sense that my husband would just be there one day—suddenly—just like the cat was.
Several months later, on Memorial Day Weekend, my friend was sad because the army had changed her husband’s orders, and she had to postpone her wedding celebration because of her husband’s military orders. She rescheduled it for August 2. I gulped, because that was my divorce anniversary, and it would not be fun being at another wedding by myself. However, I was to be the maid of honor, so of course I would be there.
That summer, I had met Seth, and I asked him to come with him to her wedding celebration in Grand Rapids. I showed Seth the swing where we had prayed for our husbands. He realized how special that place was and asked me to marry me that on that swing, on that day—the 14th anniversary of my divorce forever changing my perception of August 2. He also asked me where Kiss the cat had been, fulfilling the prophetic thought I had that my husband would just be there, just like the cat was.
I believe that all serendipitous strikes are God showing us His goodness and power. If my friend’s wedding had been on its original date, I would not have taken Seth, and he would not have been in that special place with me.
I’m writing a book with serendipitous stories…Stay tuned!