The Beautiful Mystery of Divine Appointments
The unexpected people you meet in life are some of life’s greatest treasures.
The friends you meet along the way.
The one’s who become like family.
The one’s who travel with you for a season and then part ways.
The one’s who have always been there.
It’s all so incredible when you think about how these seemingly “chance occurrences”, or, rather, our souls came to cross paths.
There’s this beautiful orchestration at play weaving us through life as we respond with a Yes to this or a No to that, all of which has an outcome leading to who we may or may not meet.
I think it’s less up to chance and more up to the soul’s vibration and divine destiny calling those into our life who we were always meant to meet.
I met my first friend simply because our parents knew each other. Proximity of existing circumstances brought us together. No work required on our part.
You’d think this may have only yielded a circumstantial friendship, but it’s one that’s lasted a lifetime.
Our souls were meant to know each and walk through life together.
The next handful of close friendships were born out of going to grade school together.
We almost moved when I was in elementary school.
What if we had? Who would I know because of that move?
The thought of making that move is mind boggling, because I can’t imagine life without the friends I made from staying in the same school.
I met a handful of my other lifelong besties through my first friend when they attended the same magnet high school. But what if they stayed in their original high school and never went to the magnet one?
It was always meant to be so the choices couldn’t be any other way.
But it’s still wild to think each one of them had to make the choice to go to the new high school for our souls to cross paths.
Other friends met through jobs…
One from Canada who found his way to Texas from his own journey of personal decisions.
One from El Salvador who came San Antonio to attend university and stayed.
Then, I ended up in Guatemala through a series of choices only to meet another lifelong friend who was in Guatemala for the same reason as me.
How were we there at the same time? What if we were just a little off on when we decided to go and completely missed meeting each other?
But could that have happened if we were always destined to meet?
How do we always show up for these destined soul path crossings, especially when some decisions are out of our control (someone is making them on our behalf, the other person has to make decisions that also lead them to the divine appointment, etc.) while others are big decisions that require courage we may not have chosen?
It’s wild to think about!
The Tom Hanks movie, Otto, (Netflix) got me thinking about the role unexpected (yet perfectly destined) people play in our lives.
The movie revolves around Tom Hank’s character, Otto, and the people in his immediate environment…his neighbors.
(Spoiler Alert in case you want to savor experiencing what I share below by watching the movie first)!
Some he’s known since he moved into the neighborhood decades ago. But there’s a particular family who moves in across the street from him as he’s contemplating exiting life (they don’t know this about him).
They could have easily been turned off by his curmudgeonly attitude towards life in general and them specifically. But the wife is undeterred by his grumpy, prickly nature and continues to show up as the vibrant, kind-hearted light she effortlessly is.
In being willing to continually show up as her innately kind self, instead of shrinking down to avoid his curmudgeonly attitude, a genuine friendship begins to develop and unfold.
With time, he can’t help but see her goodness and be affected by her presence. Slowly he begins to become a part of her family…an honorary grandpa to her young kids, sharing in life’s important moments…to the point of being in family pictures hung on the wall.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is these two people met out of a series of personal decisions to live in the same neighborhood.
Decisions made thirty some odd years a part from one another. Yet they find themselves in the same proximity at this point in their respective lives.
She is full of life. He wants to exit life. Yet a friendship blossoms in the most unlikely circumstances, making an indelible imprint on each of their lives.
We don’t know when, where or how we’re going to meet the treasure trove of people in our lives who become our lifelong friends (or even those who walk with us for a certain season or chapter).
But it’s amazing when you think about the circumstances and decisions that bring about these most cherished divine appointments.
And you never know if there’s still someone you’re yet to meet in this capacity.
I’m so thankful for all of the divine appointments I’ve had thus far!
I hope this message encouraged you to reflect on the beautiful divine appointments that have occurred in your own life.
Always Shine Brightly,
Shanna
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