The last six weeks have been surreal. Not having a job certainly has altered my routine a bit, not to mention messing with my normal sleep patterns. Lately, I’m uncertain as to what day of the week it is, although I’m 75% certain of what year it is.

Lately, I’ve run into some familiar faces. Or more accurately, they’ve approached me because they recognize me. One was from my high school graduating class (Briarcrest class of ’91) who I ran into at the Rabbit Room a week ago Wednesday. The next was a girl from my college (Union class of ’95) who came over to my table at a restaurant.

Last was a guy I knew from Fellowship Bible Church back in the day. It took me a minute, because my reaction time has been a little off lately from not working, but I got there eventually.

All three of these happened in the span of about 10 days. All three were initiated by the other party. Each time was a complete and total surprise. I felt like a contestant on the old TV show, This Is Your Life, where they bring in random people from the past and you have to guess who it is.

This is normally where I make some super-spiritual analogy or make a relevant point about faith. But I’m still trying to figure out what it means. I know enough about faith and God to know that there are no coincidences in this life. Nothing happens by accident or happenstance. At the very least, these are all God-winks, those seemingly small moments of God breaking in to your normal.

Each time, I got a little tongue-tied because I was so taken aback and surprised, but each time I walked away encouraged and more hopeful. Maybe that was the point after all.