See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
EXODUS 23:20 (NIV)
I love the saying that some attribute to Albert Einstein: “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” I love to look for how beautiful things come together in a way that shows there was a plan, that there were greater forces at work. Either there is no God or there is only God. I, of course, strive to live my life believing that it is all God at work.
Sometimes you have to look for those “coincidences,” and other times they are so obvious you can only laugh and thank God. These gifts, these simple moments that show that He is here and that your loved ones are still surrounding you, are the ones that lift my heart and give me strength. They show me that the veil between this world and the next is just that, a thin veil. We are closer than we think, though we may feel so far. Separation is just an illusion.
Several years ago, Mark and I hosted a table at an Operation Smile gala. I have been an ambassador for this wonderful organization for many years, and on this particular night we joined a group of friends all there to support this worthy cause. We were sitting down to dinner when a young girl came around the tables trying to sell raffle tickets. We had already donated, so my first impulse was to politely decline. But this girl was hovering around the table, and she reminded me a bit of Reilly, so I dug into my purse to see what cash I had. I had forty dollars, and the tickets were twenty dollars each, so I bought two tickets and wrote my name on them, and the girl moved on to the next table.
One of my dear friends, Brooke Burke-Charvet, was the MC for the night, and as dinner was wrapping up, she went up onstage with a very large hat filled with raffle tickets. And as she put her hand deep into that hat, she pulled out a ticket and said, “Well, it’s my friend Roma Downey!”
I jumped up like I’d just won an Oscar. I’d never really won anything like this before and was so excited. Mark pulled me back to my chair, laughing, as there was nothing to go up and receive; you would find out later what the prize was.
It turned out that the prize was choosing a piece of jewelry from the designer Thanh Hoang. They gave Thanh my contact information, and a few weeks later I invited her out to my house to look at her beautiful jewelry collection and share some tea.
After Thanh arrived and we’d settled in for our tea, she reached into her bag and pulled out a few pieces of jewelry for me to choose from her collection, Le Dragon d’Or.
She sat there with her hand in her bag, and she looked me in the eye.
“Roma, I have one piece of jewelry I made about fifteen years ago. No one has ever bought it, so I have stopped showing it. It is an unusual piece. But as I was leaving this morning, I had a strong feeling I should bring it. You may not like it, which is fine—I have a few other pieces as well—but I wanted to show you this one first.”
And she pulled out a beautiful butterfly ring.
Tears sprang to my eyes. Immediately, I knew it was from my mom. That it was a message from her. I’m still here, Roma. All these years later, I’m still right here.
Of course I chose that piece of jewelry. Nothing else would do. That ring was a gift from my dear mother. It was meant for me.
I later learned that when Brooke picked the second raffle ticket out of the hat, as there were two prizes to be won that night, my name was on the ticket again! But she, of course, put it aside. She couldn’t have me winning both prizes; it might have looked rigged. What are the chances my name was pulled out twice?
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.
H. JACKSON BROWN JR.
But to me, that shows how much my mother wanted me to get her message. What are the odds? That I would end up buying a raffle ticket despite my initial resistance. That my name would be the one to be called, out of the hundreds in that hat. Twice! And that unbeknownst to me, the prize would be a butterfly ring.
Those moments were so validating to me. I then understood that my mother is still reaching out to me. That I will see her again. That I will be reunited with the loving energy of my mom and dad, even though I don’t know exactly what heaven may look like.
Now, some may say that it was just a coincidence that my name was called and that that designer felt called to bring a butterfly ring.
But I like to see those coincidences as signs of God’s love, as reminders of his constant presence, and that I am truly a beloved child of God. And He is taking care of me in moments big and small.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
ROMANS 8:14–17 (ESV)