"The macro plan of salvation is composed of micro plans. God governs the intersections of our lives, the people that we meet, and when we meet them. These intersections are all watched over by God, and we will not be aware of it. You and I may call these intersectings “coincidence”. This word is understandable for mortals to use, but coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the workings of an omniscient God. He does not do things by “coincidence” but by “divine design.” Neil A. Maxwell
On June 13th of this year, I ventured into the world of social media. That was the day I created and added my profile picture and published my first post to Facebook. On July 3rd I saw friend requests from Cindy Hampton Buchholz and Carrie (Buchholz) Begley. Two names from my past. I couldn’t believe it. I had not seen or talked to these two women for at least fifteen years. Cindy is my ex-sister-in-law and Carrie is my (ex) niece and goddaughter. The last time I saw them, Carrie had just graduated from high school. I’ve only seen them once in the last twenty-seven years.
I admit, I hesitated for a few seconds to accept their friend requests. Even though the divorce from their brother/uncle was twenty-seven years ago, I didn’t want to open old wounds. That was an awful time in my life, and even though I forgave him years ago, there are just some memories I don’t want to conjure up. But I found myself accepting their friend requests and, in a few minutes, I saw this message from Carrie, “Hi Aunt Maria! How have you been?” I marveled that she still thought of me as her aunt. When I noted that in my response, Carrie told me that I will always be her aunt. All my hesitation about reconnecting with this family was gone.
It was good to reconnect and catch up. I found out that Carrie has been trying to find me for several years and periodically would check social media platforms to see if I was online. Because she didn’t know my married name, she resorted to looking for all the “Maria’s” who live in New Mexico. Of course, she couldn’t find me because I was not on social media. But less than a month after I got on Facebook, Carrie happened to look for me again. This time she found me. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
God governs the intersections of our lives. He even reconnects us to long-lost friends and family. It touches my heart that Carrie has been searching for me. For some reason, I matter to her, even though she was a little girl when her uncle and I divorced. Cindy and my other niece, Jenny, now live only 8 hours from me in Colorado Springs. It is my intention to visit them in the coming weeks. Carrie also asked that the next time I visit my family in Dayton, Ohio that I contact her. She only lives a few hours away and wants to introduce me to her husband and daughters.
At the end of my day when I’m saying my evening prayers, I ask God to show me when and how I saw Him that day. When I asked that question on the evening of July 3rd, he made it very clear to me that I saw Him when Cindy and Carrie reached out to me on Facebook. It was verified to me that it was no coincidence but was, instead, divine design. For some divine reason, our lives are supposed to intersect again. God blesses us in these unexpected ways. I thank Carrie for her persistence in trying to find her Aunt Maria. It is good to be found, even when you don’t know that you’re lost.