I’ve always felt that things happen for a reason; I believe in divine intervention. Sometimes I don’t understand it until years later. Back in the early 2000s when I was teaching middle school, I often heard the parents of my students or those I worked with using the term “God Wink.” Since I know that God has a plan for us, I began to use the term taken from the book written by Squire Rushnell. Here’s how the author defines it:
WHAT'S A GODWINK?
by Squire Rushnell,
“The Godwink Guy”
"It was truly a “Godwink” that my first book of hope and encouragement was released just before 9/11, almost as if it was predestined to help a hurting nation. The new word “Godwinks” quickly entered into the language meaning those little “coincidences” that weren't coincidence, but instead, from divine origin. The word itself evolved while writing my first book, When God Winks. I found myself wondering, “If there’s no coincidence to coincidence, what do you call it?” My wonderful wife Louise and I talked and prayed about it for weeks. One day the new little word floated into my consciousness⎯ “Godwink” ... it was fun and friendly like “Godsend” or “Godspeed”.
Recently, I began thinking about God Winks again and grew
curious about how to understand “coincidences” or how to know that God is
guiding me. Though the author clearly has some outstanding examples from famous
people far above my paygrade, he gives us ways to understand how/why things
happen in our own lives.
I began with the introduction to the book, reading slowly when p xxii caught my attention. Once I finished the introduction, I followed Mr. Rushnell's advice and sat with
my eyes closed, like in a meditative state, and went back into time as far as
my memory would allow and began seeing things as ‘turning events.’ I listed them as quickly as I could, and then
I began to journal about them. I can’t lie. My first God Wink was a dog that
God persisted that my family acknowledge as my pet. In a childlike way, I named
him Pal and only now do I see how deeply symbolic that name was. As I
journaled, I sat with tears streaming down my face. My PAL served a purpose in
my life. A God Wink.
I’m hoping that in the future, I will be able to determine how God is directing me…in the moment. He brings people, and things, and events into our lives for our greater good. Now with God’s grace, may we see that He is leading the way.
