For the last few months I had noticed the brakes on my car getting weaker and weaker. They still worked but it took longer for my car to stop and I had to push the brake pedal further to the floor. I knew that I needed a new set of brake pads put on, but it was the middle of a rough Winter and I had so many other things to do. I kept putting it off then and babied my brakes as much as I could. The other night, though, I had a dream. I was driving my car on a bright, sunny day when suddenly a stalled car appeared in the road in front of me. I stomped on my brakes but they didn’t work and I smashed into the back of the other car. The dream wreck awoke me with a start and I decided to get my brake pads changed the next day. When the mechanic took off the old ones I noticed that the pads were worn paper thin.

The day after that I was driving home from the grocery store with my daughter beside me and my two sons in the back seat. As I neared a tight, mountain curve I saw a Semi-truck coming from the other direction. It took the curve too fast and slid two feet over the center line. I hit my brakes and simultaneously steered my car towards the side of the road. We gasped as the huge truck missed us by only a foot. It was only later when I was home safe in my bed that I realized that if I had still had my old, worn-out brake pads on I wouldn’t have been able to slow down fast enough to have missed that truck. My children and I would have either been injured or killed. I closed my eyes and gave thanks for that dream. I guess God still had some more for us to do in this world.

Now many would say that it was just a dream and it was all only a coincidence. I, however, stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago. I know how much God loves us and I know that He interacts in our lives here more than we can even imagine. The threads of our lives weave in and out with the lives of everyone else in this world, but only God sees the full tapestry. He knows that every moment we live and every choice we make are important. He sends us messages, dreams, thoughts, angels, and countless coincidences then to keep us on the right path, the path of love, the path of kindness, the path of goodness, the path that leads us back Home again.

Don’t ignore those messages from above. Listen to your better angels. Pay attention to your dreams. Follow those urges to do good, give kindness, share love, and spread joy. Notice those countless “coincidences” that fill your days. They can lead you. They can guide you. They can even save your life.