Two stories from the news this week are great examples of what we at Mysterious Ways call “Encounters & Connections,” the unexpected ways in which the paths of two people cross to deliver incredible results.
In Kent, Washington, a 911 operator named Candace picked up a call from a panicked woman reporting a theft. What was stolen? A wedding dress.
It was her wedding day, the woman explained. She had been packing the things she needed for her special day. The dress was taken while she was in the house. Now she didn’t know what she was going to do.
Candace could imagine what the woman was going through. She had gotten married just 18 months before. While she asked the woman all the required information, a thought took hold of her and wouldn’t let go. I have a wedding dress. Maybe she can wear that.
She had no idea about the bride’s height, weight or taste, but something told her that she had to put it out there. The supervisor allowed her to tell the responding officer to offer her dress to the bride-to-be. The bride asked to see a picture. Candace sent along one of her wedding photos. The bride responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!”
Candace’s husband was supposed to be on a camping trip that weekend, but it had been cancelled last minute. He was able to stop by his in-laws’ house, retrieve the dress and deliver it to the grateful bride shortly before the ceremony. As it turned out, Candace and the bride had both purchased their dresses at the same store… and the dress was a perfect fit!
“It’s funny because I didn’t even have to think about it. It was just, she needed a dress, I had one,” Candace told Rachel Belle of KIRO radio. “You know, God is good. He made sure all the pieces fell in place.”
The other story that popped up on my radar screen comes from the Associated Press and NPR. Earlier this year, Mark and Mindy Turner, an American couple, were settling into their new home in the Bavarian town of Hohenberg when they accepted a dinner invitation from their neighbors. After dinner, their host showed them a ring with an inscription and told them a story. His grandmother received the ring after World War II from a Russian soldier in exchange for room and board. His grandmother passed the ring onto him when he moved to Germany. He held onto it for years, realizing that it must have originally belonged to an American soldier. But not until now, with two computer-savvy Americans in his home, did he decide it was time to try to find him.
Mark found a thesis posted online. That led him to a man from Raleigh, North Carolina, named David Cox.
David had rarely heard his dad talk about World War II. The only story he knew was how his father had once traded a precious ring for two candy bars while imprisoned in a POW camp. The ring had meant so much, his father had it reproduced when he returned to the States. David’s son-in-law wrote the thesis paper that mentioned his father’s war experience.
Last Friday, the ring was finally delivered to David, back with the family it belonged to after 70 years—thanks to a stranger’s dinner party half a world away.
What random encounters have led you to unexpected windfalls? Share your story with us.
