There are no “Coincidences”

Back in April, I had the opportunity to do an assembly for the children and staff at South Rich Elementary School in Randolph, Utah. Randolph is just north of Woodruff, and just about 15 minutes south of that is where our accident took place that fateful day almost 20 years ago. One of the first paramedics to the scene of our accident was a man by the name of Kerry Stacey who lives there in Woodruff.

We have lots of connections to that area, one of which is that the superintendent of the schools there, Mr. Dale Lamborn, was actually my high school principal and a friend of the family. He was there to introduce me at the assembly and listen to my presentation.

When I do assemblies for schools, I share some of what I call my “stupid human tricks”, which are just things that my body can do as a result of my spinal cord injury.  I like to show the kids that it’s ok to have things about them that make them different and unique, even if it’s something they’re embarrassed about,  like scars, or a hand that flutters really fast when triggered just right, so I call up a volunteer to help me hold my arm up to show them this awesome trick I can do.  This time wasn’t any different, except something happened that I wasn’t expecting.  I asked for a volunteer,  which always results in multiple hands being raised,  along with the “Oh, me, me! Pick me!” sounds as they reach their arms up as high as they can,  shaking their hands and wiggling their little fingers for emphasis.

As I looked around to decide who to choose, the cutest little blonde -haired girl  stood out from the crowd, as she had a bright, colorful bandage on her head. I called her up and asked her name. It was Cody. Then I told her how much I loved her fancy Band-aid! She smiled and said, “Thank you,” and then I proceeded to have her assist me with my trick by holding my right arm up as high as she could so everyone could see. (My right arm/hand don’t work well from the injury.)  As I mentioned before, the trick is that when I trigger it just right, my fingers flutter really quickly. She did a super job, and I showed them my hand fluttering trick, which the kids just love! It’s a little freaky!

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The audience gave her a big round of applause and I sent her back to her seat. When I finished my presentation, Mr. Lamborn had me stay there on the stage and asked if I had any idea who the little girl is that I had chosen to be my helper for my trick. I thought for a moment, but really had no idea. He asked Cody to come back up and told me she is the grand-daughter of Carey Stacy, the paramedic I mentioned at the beginning.  I was overwhelmed with emotion! What are the chances that I would randomly choose her out of all of those children! Some might say it was just a coincidence, but I’ve experienced far too many of these so called “coincidences” and believe they are much more than that!

Now, this story doesn’t end here. In fact, I started writing this post just a couple of days after it happened, but never quite finished it. Then just this past Sunday evening, I was speaking at a devotional in Bern, ID.  Just a few minutes before it began, this man that I hadn’t seen in maybe 10 years (yet, I immediately recognized) walked up to the stand where I was sitting, waiting for the meeting to begin. As he approached, my eyes welled up with tears and I stood up. We embraced, and through the tears I expressed my joy to see him there! This is Kerry Stacey. He and his wife were invited to come by their daughter that lives there.

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You see? There are no coincidences.