Butterfly

You've heard of the butterfly effect? If not from science, maybe from the movie by the same name?

I so believe it's true, but not in as a manifestation of the universe's randomness, but as a picture of how connected we are and how God moves.

This weekend I attended the service for my friend Jeff's mother. Jeff spoke at the service, and it was very moving. Something I never could have done, by the way. After his tribute and the message by the pastor, I got to thinking about this:

If a young girl had never asked a boy to a Sadie Hawkins dance in 1954, Jeff's parents would never have gotten married.

If they hadn't gotten married, Jeff would not have been born.

If Jeff had not been born, I would not have had his encouragement at key points in my life.

And without that, I don't know what my career would be or maybe where I would even be living.

I certainly would not have flown to Kentucky this weekend, which reminds me of a story that will be the subject of another blog post.

So...Jeff's mom made a decision almost 60 years ago that was part of God' purpose for my life. Wow.

I am so thankful for the life of Jeannine Magner, even though I never spent much time with her. She raised a wonderful family, and a son who has made a difference in my life and so many others. I pray for wisdom so that the decisions I make will create ripples of God's grace in lives I don't even know about - like those of Jeannine Magner.