Coincidence?

My youngest son shared an inspiring story with me the other day.  He said that one night while his brother was driving him home from school, traffic was very bad on the major road that runs through our community.  And over by the wooded section of it, 2 deer appeared in the road right in front of their car.  He said that he instinctively issued up a prayer....and suddenly the deer were gone.  Just like that.  He did not see them go back into the woods and they did not cross the road (where they would have encountered vehicles coming the other way).  They simply were no longer there.  My youngest son has come to expect things like that to happen.  He has been a witness to  "miracles" before - in particular, things that have happened to his mother...  Many or most people would, sadly, chalk up such incidences as nothing more than coincidence or they would try to find a "logical" explanation for it.  They would say that surely the deer ducked back into the woods and that my son just didn't see it happen.  These are some of the same people who believe that either there is no God or, if He does exist, He doesn't care about the day-to-day goings-ons of His "subjects" here on earth.  To these people I pose a simple question:  Do you care about the day-to-day goings-ons of your children?  I know that I do!

If my son has a rough day on the ball field or is struggling with a subject at school, I feel his frustration deep down inside.  When my other son reaches a tough spot in a relationship, I feel his anxiety and it is actually painful.  Someone recently told me that a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child.  This is so true.  And how many of us, when we see our child suffering or struggling with something - especially something we might be able to help them with, just sit back and say, "Oh well, it will pass..." and offer no comfort, support, or aid?
  

I have come to see God as my Father in every sense of the word.  He cares about the littlest things in my and my children's lives, and has, more than once, done unexplained things (i.e, miracles) to help us in our struggles here on earth.    I have shared a few with you in previous posts - God waking me up to get my son's form printed and signed for the William & Mary deadline that day; and the night He calmed a severe attack of tachycardia so that I could go back to sleep. 

In your lives, I am sure there were times when the unexplained has occurred and that, when it did, it usually saved you some grief, helped you out of a tight squeeze, or out-and-out healed you (body, mind, or soul).  I bet if you sat down and thought about it, you could come up with a list of such events that you may have chalked up to coincidence, but that, for at least a moment, made you stop and wonder if there wasn't something more to it.   Just a thought....

Anyway, tonight I made a tofu and vegetable curry that I served over Japanese rice (which I made in our rice cooker).  We all enjoyed it, with my older son (who said he wasn't hungry before he sat down to eat) having seconds  This is one of those recipes where the tofu picks up the flavor in the sauce and doesn't taste like tofu.  I pan-fry it first before adding it to the curry.  The curry I used comes in a box that you can find in the Oriental section of most supermarkets.  It is called S&B Golden Curry and I bought the "mild" flavor.  I make it the way it says on the back of the box, but I use vegetable broth instead of water.   And after sauteing the onion, I add peeled and diced potatoes, carrots, and apples.  I add the pan-fried tofu when I add the curry mix.  We top each serving with shredded coconut and raisins.  See photo in right column.  Hope you'll try it!

Until next time, happy and healthy eating and may God bless you all!