Look what I found…

Published by Barrie Voyce on March 10, 2021

Walking up the drive towards my front door, fresh from my daily exercise with my Labrador Maya, I spotted something bright red bobbing about between the front door and the wheelie bins. I was intrigued and so was Maya. After a quick sniff, she turned away eager to get inside and get her “reward” for her behaviour on our walk. Whilst I didn’t smell it, my interest lasted a bit longer.

Where on earth had a bright red, heart-shaped balloon come from?
Why was it sat outside my front door like a lame (and late) Valentine’s present?

Now, there is obviously, a logical explanation. The wind will have blown it up the drive and it got nestled where it lay. But who is walking around with balloons at the moment? We live at the very end of a cul-de-sac, our drive is obscured from the road. The route it must have taken would be obscure and fascination.

And here it was, waiting for me as I got home, it certainly wasn’t there when we’d left. The one, half an hour of the day that anyone had left the house coincided with the arrival of this mysterious inflatable.

Do coincidences “just happen”? Its a big philosophical and theological question. Do situations like this have external motivation, purpose and meaning, or do we impose those onto situations from our perspective?

You see, the thing is, its not just the timing of this arrival. There is more at play:

• This week’s #LentChallenge is all about reaching out to others with positive messages of affirmation – we’re encouraging young people to send a text, call, or gift to someone to just say they’re thinking of them.
• Our weekly video is of me “unboxing” a gift sent unexpectedly to me in the last week – it contains lots of encouragement from something I don’t really know but who wants to bless my ministry
• I’d made a bit of a mistake in my social media planning, and the post that was supposed to go out today went out yesterday by mistake. On my walk, I was thinking about what I could post that day on the theme.
• The image we’re using for this week is of a red heart-shape.

With all this context, I come home to find a bright red heart welcoming me. A coincidence, or a BIG, you can’t miss the relevance, message from God reminding me of His love for me, and that He is interwoven into every day of my life. He’s so aware and involved in all the things going on that He can blow an old balloon all the way up my drive at exactly the right moment.

I choose to see this as a sign from God, I choose to believe all the above. I choose to listen to the positive voices and messages, and in response, I choose to share them with others too. If you’re reading this, choose to see it as a big heart-shaped balloon knocking gently against your front door.