I Believe in Signs

“During times of great uncertainty, coincidences are signs of comfort and personal reassurance.”
-Squire Rushnell, “When God Winks”

I believe in signs. I believe that sometimes God uses signs or coincidences in our lives to get our attention. The quote above is from a book written by author Squire Rushnell, called “When God Winks.” The book holds stories of coincidences in ordinary lives as well as in the lives of celebrities. The author explains coincidences as a wink from God meant to encourage and guide. I believe that there are times when God will go the extra mile to get an important message across to us. In a loud world God will use silent clues to communicate with us.

Hollywood has played with this notion as well. In the 1997 movie, “Fools Rush In” starring Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry, Hayek’s character believes in signs. Perry’s character is skeptical until he begins to see signs after she has left him. As he walks down the street searching for Isabel he hears a priest say, “There are signs everywhere.” After this he encounters a series of events that make him a believer in signs. In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the ring of the bell signifies Clarence getting his wings. In “Patch Adams” the butterflies represent the woman whom Patch Adams loved who passed away. Signs are everywhere if we choose to pay attention.

For instance, when I was graduating from college and making major decisions about my future I called a friend whom mentioned to me a school in Virgina Beach that I was already doing some research on. I remembered her telling me about this school years ago and it seemed to have the programs I was looking for. Well, I continued to play with this idea as I began to see more and more about Virginia. I ran into a girl who I hadn’t seen in a long time and she happened to be wearing a shirt that said Virginia Beach on it. More “signs” continued to play out in my life as I decided to apply to the school. I was accepted and low and behold I met my husband who happened to have parallel dreams as me. How’s that for direction.

These sorts of things happen all of the time in my life. Like a friend that I had in college that was from Queens like me, whose mother’s name was also Elsa, who was also very petite and who had scoliosis like me. Another coincidence in my life was when I took a magazine writing class in college, which was taught by a woman who looked just like my 5th grade teacher who inspired me to write. On a class trip we went to Manhattan to see a scriptwriter by the name Linda Seger, my maiden name was Seijas. I ended up concentrating in script/scriptwriting in grad school.

Before I met my husband it seemed that every man that I came in contact his name started with the letter “J.” I told my sister that I was going to marry a man whose name began with “J.” I kept meeting these “J” guys so often that I called it the “J factor.” Low and behold after entering school in Virgina I met a man by the name of Joshua. We got married in 2006. God has a funny way of directing our path.

I like a quote I heard on the show, “Touched by an Angel,” that said, “A coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous." The next time you see a coincidence or a series of signs in your life don’t just write them off. Play close attention because God may be trying to tell you something. Don't miss out on your wink. WINK.