At the beginning of this year, I noticed a book on my shelf which a friend had gifted me. It was titled Attentive to God- Being Aware of God’s Presence in Daily Life by Tony Horsfall. Clearly, I had not been attentive since that book has been lying on my shelf for perhaps a year now?
Available from Graceworks e-store -click link here
I decided to read the book as I felt it would be a good way to start the New Year, given my severe attention deficit issues last year.
Last Monday morning, I reached Chapter 8, which was about Moses turning aside to encounter God when he stopped to take a look at a burning bush. In regard to this, the author said,
“I like to think of God as the great Attention Grabber. He loves to break into our self-contained little worlds and remind us that He is there, awakening us to his nearness and prodding us into the consciousness of His reality. He does this in a number of ways, often taking us by surprise and catching our attention with something unusual, that we didn’t expect, like the burning bush…Often these events happen as something unusual, perhaps a surprising coincidence or an incredibly timely meeting, and often with a touch of humour too.”
That afternoon, I picked Caleb from school and we headed to Clementi Mall to borrow books from the public library. After picking out the books, I herded him towards the Borrowing Station. I checked-out 30 books, turned around to find that Caleb wasn’t with me.
I retraced my steps and found him peeking over the shoulder of a boy, seated on a chair, playing the Brawl Stars game on his iPad.
I walked right up to them and said, “Caleb, let’s go.”
The boy’s mother looked up, leapt up and stood in front of me. “Hi, it’s me.”
I was taken aback. “Didn’t we bump into each other this time last year in this same mall?”
Melissa was a mum who first emailed me three years ago after she bought my books for her son. She had connected with my stories and wrote to me to share her own story and encourage me. Shortly after, her family moved overseas.
Back in 2016, when I was undergoing chemotherapy, she emailed me a devotional which she felt was for me. When I read it that evening, I had goosebumps. It had the same two verses that I had read that morning, expounding on the exact issue that I was grappling with.
Last year, on the week before Chinese New Year, Caleb and I were at Fairprice Finest in Clementi Mall, picking up last minute goodies for the Chinese New Year. In that crowded supermarket, Melissa walked right up to me (for the first time we ever met) and asked, “Are you Emily, the author?”
She had heard Caleb and me talking, turned aside and recognized us from my blog posts. We time-marked that moment with a photo.
Last week, we had our second divine appointment. It was again in Clementi Mall. One week before Chinese New Year. And she had turned and looked when she heard me and Caleb talking. Caleb had ‘led’ me to her in the crowded library. She told me that they were flying back to Australia the next day.
We time-marked this second divine appointment with another photo.
It was the most improbable of encounters. Two consecutive years in a row. In the same mall.
God, the great Attention Grabber had broken into my ordinary day, reminding me that He is there, awakening me to his nearness and prodding me into the consciousness of His reality.
I went home and journaled: God, you got my attention. What is the purpose of this surprising co-incidence, or God-incidence?
Over the next day, I was reminded of the things that God had impressed on my heart through my divine connection with Melissa three years ago, the bible verses I was pointed to and now reminded to ponder on.
Related Links:
God Knows Leh #27- A Pain in the Abdomen & 7 times of Psalms 23:6
God Knows Leh #29- Black Friday met Good through the shadow of Death
Mum-Mum's the Word 
