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Monday, August 1, 2016

Coincidence? I Think Not.

Well hello from LaGuardia airport!

I am just returning from a lovely little reunion trip to Boston, where I went to meet up with my good friend Sara, her newish husband Dave, and our mutual friend Gloria, who happened to be in town. (Sara, Gloria, and I all trained together when we started our China teaching jobs back in 2009.)

When I arrived at Sara's place, she and Gloria gave me the quick tour of the house. "But don't look in the bedrooms yet, because they're a little messy."

Sara and Dave disappeared to a church event, leaving me and Gloria to roam free in their kitchen. Then someone knocked on the door. Hm. Then they rang the doorbell!

"Should we get it?" I asked Gloria.
"We might as well," she said.
"Are you supposed to answer other people's doors?"
"It might be a package or something," said Gloria.

Sounded reasonable. I went down to the entry and opened the door. At first it looked like a nice, normal pair of strangers. Then, once their faces registered on my retinas, it looked like my friends Lisa and Merle!

From Canada!

Lisa and I taught together my first year in China, and now she's married with a little baby and living very far away. I had no idea I'd ever see her and her husband again.

Reunion! Note: Gloria and I are a couple of cool kids, but we are not A Couple.

We were so excited by Lisa's surprise that we had to break out the Asian photo gestures!

It just so happened that Lisa and Merle were in the States for a wedding in Pennsylvania and had decided to extend their trip up to Boston. And it just so happened that they asked if they could stay with Sara during THE VERY SAME WEEK that I had already planned to be there.

Coincidence? I think not.

It was an incredibly fun and refreshing time of fellowship to be together with these good friends and co-laborers. Also, props to Sara "Don't Look in the Bedrooms" K. and Gloria "Maybe it's a Package" S. for sneakily keeping the secret from me.

Spending time with Lisa and Merle was just one of three amazing "coincidences" this trip. The other two involved finding and making connections between ministry partners across several continents and fellowships.

Networking happens in the most unlikely ways.  God works in the most amazing ways.

Now enjoy some gratuitous photos from New England!

I used to be a non-coffee-drinker. Then I lived with Sara. The rest is history.

We saw mansions in Newport, Rhode Island!

We picnicked on this lawn. 

We marveled at this library.

I listened to the breakers from the mansion called the Breakers.

Great company! But we couldn't talk to each other because we were busy with the audio tour.

Nice views from the Cliff Walk along the row of mansions.

I guess there's barely a Boston picture here, but I hope you enjoyed this little taste of Rhode Island. Thanks for reading. :)