“We live by faith, not by sight." ~ 2
Corinthians 5:7
Occasionally we encounter events
that seem to be so random, they can only be explained as a miracle. Such was the case when 21 year old twin
sisters Ashlee and Andrea discovered they were pregnant at the same time. Oddsmakers say the chance of twins having
twins is about 1 in 2,500.
What makes the story even more amazing, is that the two
moms, living hundreds of miles apart, were six months pregnant when they found
out they were both going to have twin boys . . . due on roughly the same
date.
They admitted that twins ran in the families of all four
parents, and that they didn’t use fertility drugs to conceive the babies. Since both were likely to be cesarean births,
the twin mothers decided to schedule their deliveries for the same day. It wasn’t a publicity stunt but rather so
that all four babies would share the same birthday with their grandfather.
Ashlee went to Georgia several weeks before their due date
to be with her sister so that they could be born in the same hospital.
In what might be a medical first, each of twin sisters delivered
twin boys by C-section on January 1st. Andrea gave birth to identical twins weighing
just over 4 pounds each. Ashlee gave
birth to fraternal twins weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces and 7 pounds, 4 ounces. All four boys - and their Moms – are doing fine.
The boy’s physician claimed the chances of twin sisters giving
birth to twin boys on the same date are probably greater than 1 in a million. What a delightful coincidence – or was it . .
. “a God thing!” Isn’t that what call
something miraculous that goes our way?
Christians tend to label things that unexpectedly work out in
their favor as “God things.” This
statement always follows something good that’s happened to us - a story of
healing, a rare coincidence that went our way, finding a parking space, getting
a job or when our child stops warming the bench in time to hit the game-winning
shot.
But there’s a flip side to that coin. When things don’t go our way - it’s still “a
God thing.” When we don’t get the
promotion that we wanted - it’s a “God thing.” Times of suffering, times of misfortune, times
of loss – “God thing, God thing.” It’s
all within His sovereign plans.
God’s in control of the “bad” days just as much as He’s in
control of the “good” ones. All of these
seemingly random events invite us to experience God in ways we may have never
considered. He’s bigger, more beautiful,
and more surprising than we could ever have planned or predicted.
Lord, sometimes Your plan isn’t what we asked
for. It’s hard to see where You are
during the hard times. Through Your
grace, help us to know that You’re there, that You care, and that when this
world is falling apart, You’re still in control. Amen
