Coincidence or Not

Have you ever had something happen that had an extraordinary connection to you and you couldn’t explain the timing or situation?

One of my sisters told me that when she bought the wallpaper for her stairs and hallway, she needed a lot, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to afford it. She went to the local wallpaper store and found a whole box of wallpaper priced really cheap. She loved it and asked the owner why it was so cheap. He said it was purchased for the house that was supposed to be burned in one of those “finding missing people” shows, but the person was found before they started filming so they didn't do the show. The house was our uncle and aunt’s house. The one we lived in for about five years that we all loved so dearly. What are the odds that that wallpaper would be there when my sister needed it? That she would bother to ask why it was so cheap? With a connection that was dear to her heart? And she loved it. And to top it off, it turned out that the show was going to be about the family of one of the gals who had worked for her. It doesn't get any closer – or less coincidental – than that.

The other part of that story is that our mom was horribly upset when she learned they were to burn that house down as part of the show. If you remember the story of her leaving a candle burning and fearing she had burned the house down, and then finding that the candle hadn't burned down at all in her five-to-six-hour absence, you would already know some of the importance behind the wallpaper story. Because the house was not burned down, my mother had peace over it even though it was falling down at that point and would one day be sold and torn down.

I expect my sister often looks at that wallpaper and thinks of our aunt and uncle who were dear to us and the house they let us live in which became such a part of our lives. If you have a story of startling connections or "coincidences", I would love to hear it in the comments. There's more to this world than we can see.