Call them coincidences, providence or Godwinks.
When your faith needs re-assurance, they're what you can expect.
God has a timely way of letting you know He's got His eye on you, and you are never alone.
An Angel Named Lynsey
Cory and Lynsey Jones were delayed leaving Saskatoon. Our son and daughter-in-law eventually headed off for a family Christmas celebration in Delmas, Saskatchewan about 80 minutes away. They were just east of North Battleford when a black pick-up truck accelerated past them.
A hundred yards ahead now, the driver, trying to settle the Ford 150 back into its lane, hit black ice and started to fish tail. The pick-up ended up in a sideways slide down the highway before slipping into the ditch and flipping onto its roof.
Cory was already dialing 911 as Lynsey pulled their Rogue over to the side of the highway.
They dug away at the snow to get to the driver’s side door. A young student and her grandmother were trapped inside. Smoke started to rise from the under carriage. After getting the driver out, Lynsey calmly crawled through the door and said, “I’m a nurse. Are you hurt?”
The woman replied, “I’m Norwegian and its gonna take a lot more than this to kill me.”
A day later, after being treated for only a minor neck injury, the feisty Gramma called Lynsey her “angel.”
When You Need Assurance
Chemo and radiation treatments had left my friend Kathy suffering from severe nausea, exhaustion and unease.
She knew she was in good hands with the medical personnel at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. What she wanted was the assurance that she was safe in God’s hands and that He would see her through.
On her way to radiation treatment on December 23rd she and her husband Jim ended up driving behind a Chevy Avalanche. The owner had a vanity license plate that displayed five simple letters – K L B U O.
The creative arrangement of the letters on the license plate left them momentarily speechless. If you knew Kathy, you’d have to call that a second miracle. The first miracle was the message on the plate. “UL B OK.”
What are the odds of a cancer patient praying for re-assurance, ending up behind a vehicle with a license plate declaring, “You’ll be OK.”
The First Christmas Godwinks
It was like that for Mary.
When you’ve traveled eighty kilometres on a donkey in your third trimester of an unwed but wanted pregnancy, you need a place to rest body and mind.
Your name is “mud” with your family because they don’t believe your story of a miraculous conception as a virgin. The arduous trip has left you too wearied to resist the raging doubts in your mind from all that had happened over the past nine months.
A stable was no place to deliver your first born with only farm animals and an anxious first-time father as attendants. But a stable and a manager is all you have. So, you nestle your son into a feed trough.
Then, you ask for some re-assurance from the God who started this whole thing.
But you never expected assurance to come in the shape of breathless shepherds.
An angelic host?
Good news?
Great joy?
A Savior?
Peace?
God’s favour?
A baby lying in a manger?
What are the odds that the very words you needed to hear would come from the least likely sources.
This Christmas expect the unexpected from a God who sees and knows you.
Merry Christmas to all my friends at Inscribe and everyone who reads this post!
All God's best to you in 2026.
These are lovely stories of God's loving care of each of us. When we most need reassurance, those "Godwinks" come to remind us of his presence and faithfulness. Thank you for sharing today, Bob.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lorrie. Keep watching for yours. Merry Christmas to you and all the best in 2026.
ReplyDeleteI love those reminders that "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." I love your phrase "Godwinks". One story that comes to mind is a day similar to our winter weather years ago. Life was difficult at the time (my dad was in hospice and we were watching him slowly leave us). And one day I was out driving around town to get some errands done, when at the stop light, my car suddenly died. Oh Lord, now what. It was the day before cellphones... when quick as a wink, before I even had time to feel utter dismay at what I would do, two fellows jumped out of the car behind me, said they would push the car into the driveway off the side street. Where one fellow guy asked me to open my car hood, did a quick fiddle. Said I had flooded the engine, just to wait a bit until I started it again. It started and I headed for home. To this day, I think these two were heaven's helpers. I've never had such an experience before or since. But I hold it dear in my heart. I felt surrounded by His care.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob, for your own stories today. And for giving me a chance to remember my own. Merry Christmas and great grace for the year ahead.
Thank you, Brenda, for sharing the story about your car and "heaven's helpers." Precious experiences. Merry Christmas!
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