When you least expect it...

You know, sometimes things happen that you had not planned. When you least expect it, your life is changed in some way and great blessings come as a result. I was thinking about this today as we had dinner with some friends we met at the childbirth class a couple months ago. We probably would never have run into each other elsewhere, but after brief conversation while on the hospital tour, and we ended up with a great friendship. Some of the most wonderful things happen when you are not watching where you are going or do not get what you want. Just a few from my life...

• I was supposed to meet David the summer before I started college. A mutual friend was going to bring him along to meet me at the Kennedy Center, but it turns out that he was not in town until the next day. I was upset that I had to go through all of the trouble to secure his ticket (it was not a public event, so you had to apply for tickets), and he was a no show! But you better bet that when I met him a few months later when I started school, I remembered who he was...
• The summer after my sophomore year I decided on a whim to ask him to join a friend of mine and me on an 11 hour drive to church conference in Alabama. I figured he was not really working and I did not know many other guys around that summer, so why not? He at the very last second (about 8 hours before we left) to come with us. And while we were there, he asked me out for the first time.
• My sister and I were walking through a scrapbook store in Dallas and looking at the items on the shelves. We were chatting about how expensive some of the items were and how we could design our own line of products that would be a good value and something new in the marketplace. And that weekend 3 years ago, we started Maya Road.
• Coming out of business school, I found the job of my dreams walking through a career fair. I saw a table for a company I loved, and just stopped by to tell them I really enjoyed their products. The recruiter asked me if I was looking for a job, and I said, "No thanks, we are moving back to North Carolina." He told me to come in anyways to meet with some folks. I figured, why not? It turns out I was hired even though I really did not know what the job entailed. I learned it and loved it, and I never would have known that without giving it a chance.
• As I watched Jonathan sleep, I wondered what life would be like without him. I remember when Caroline and I talked about starting families. We both wanted girls and had our hearts set on it. The day before C went in to get her ultrasound (I was 5 weeks behind her), she asked me to guess what were going to have. I said "Both of us with have boys because both of us what girls." :) But in the end, Jonathan and Noah are perfect in our eyes. I could not imagine having anyone but him.

I am a total planner. But having too much of a rigid control over your life does not leave room for God's wonderful surprises. Those moments of serendipity and chance are what make life wonderfully unique. Without them, I would never have what I have today. By the way, if you have a moment, head over to Caroline's blog. She is hosting a RAK for our new rub-ons. Only 3 people have seen them so far, so if you want to be the first consumer to use them, you must enter! I just got mine in the mail today, and they rub-on like silk. You will love them! :)