no such thing...

i am not one for coincidences. i just can't believe that things happen by chance. there are times when little things will come along and i wonder to myself how? it has to be chance...but in all reality i just don't think by chance things really do happen. i have experienced to many wonderful things to think that they 'just' happened. some of them have come just within the past couple weeks. one was finding our wedding location, another was the gift of our honeymoon, and today another one came about.

a couple weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about a fundraiser he was doing to raise money for a nonprofit working with homeless kids. they were raffling off a really lovely quilt...the moment i saw it, i fell in love:) anywho, i decided to buy tickets because i thought it would be a really lovely addition to our wedding...i won't say for what:) my sweet boss linda decided she was going to buy tickets to try to win the quilt for zack and i as well. she is one special woman, seriously. she and andy are above and beyond what anyone might expect of a boss. or bosses well, the raffle was yesterday and with all the tickets we bought, we did not win:( BUT it was ok because they raised $2,000 dollars for youth hope! today, the lady who did win came in to pick the quilt up and the most bizarre thing happened. when i say bizarre, i mean the situation completely blew me out of the water. she came in and chatted with my boss for a couple of minutes and on her way out she turned around, walked over to my boss, handed her the quilt, and told her the Lord told her that she was supposed to have it. i could not believe it was happening. with a hug and tears in her eyes, she left. my boss turned around and walked over to me with a lovely smile on her face and placed the quilt in my hands. she told me the Lord obviously wanted me to have it! i started to cry, i just couldn't help it. this morning i woke up and spent a while in prayer. this past week was really rough in a few ways and prayer has been coming to me the moment i wake up. i have really been needing it so much to feel like i'm not drowning. i know it is so silly, a quilt and all, but i just have to say it was something i really needed today and it really touched my heart.
i asked my boss later if she had said anything to the woman about our trying to win it and she had not. i don't know what happened but it was so special. it is so beyond me how the Lord not only knows us and hears us but He answers us in such special ways. not how He want Him to answer but how He needs to answer and in His time. i hope this Christmas week has started off in a very powerful way for you friends. i think this year a lot of people have had to put aside the crazy Christmas spending and to be honest, i am ok with it. it seems like people are really going to love Christmas this year without the kazillions of presents. Jesus, family, food, thoughtful gifts...so good:)