Was it Chance, Coincidence, or a Miracle? Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

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It was back in 2011. I was taking my daily bicycle ride, doing my local training loop because it's predictable. On that day, I had someplace to be, so time was a factor. Otherwise, I might've been on one of my longer loops, which extended into neighboring towns…

My local loop is a 20-mile up-and-back course on familiar roads. I recognize each and every crack in the pavement as it passes on the ground below. The spot where I had an early morning crash trying to avoid a van is on this loop. In that accident, I gashed the soft tissue just above my right eye, an injury that required twenty-two stitches, and I also suffered a broken rib, which caused me to miss several days of work.  

I completed the up portion of the loop and was heading back when, up ahead, some 75 yards away, I could see what appeared to be a couple of wild turkeys making their way across one of the most dangerous three-way intersections in town. It's an intersection where no one comes to a complete stop; they slow down a bit and then continue on their way. With overgrown shrubs at the corners making visibility tough, it's an extremely dangerous intersection. I wondered if the wild turkeys would make it across or end up a bloody pile of feathers that would be flattened by the end of the day… 

I was focused on the two waddling objects, and as I got closer, I saw pink… My eyesight sucks, so I remember squinting and trying to get a better look. I started laughing and thinking, “Who the fuck would dress up a couple of wild turkeys?” 

As I got closer, I saw that these two waddling objects clad in bright pink were not wild turkeys. They were twin baby girls with blonde hair wearing matching pink outfits wandering alone through the dangerous intersection. WTF?

I immediately jumped off my bike, releasing it and letting it crash on someone’s front lawn. There was a stopped car, and the woman driving it was talking to the two baby girls. I immediately asked if they were her children and was already scooping up the one closest to the middle of the intersection before she said, "No." The woman immediately got out of her car and grabbed the other. We looked at each other, shocked! “Whose adorable little girls are these?” we wondered. And, “What the fuck are they doing wandering alone in the middle of this dangerous intersection?” 

While we attempted to calm the babies, the woman's teenage son ran to nearby houses to find their parents… 

Meanwhile, the baby I was holding was wet and crying hysterically. I was wearing a wild-looking, aerodynamic cycling helmet, some narrow wrap-around sunglasses, and a high-visibility green cycling jacket. I looked like a fucking alien, and she was petrified!  

Suddenly, a hysterical blonde woman began making her way across the street, stopping several times to compose herself. It was obvious she was very emotional and having a moment… 

When she finally composed herself, she took the child I was holding and hugged her, wrapping the baby girl's little body in her eager arms. Several other people from neighboring homes gathered at the intersection to watch.

Once both children were back in their mother's arms, me, the woman who had stopped, and her son began walking slowly away, still in disbelief… 

I got on my bicycle and pedaled away to jubilant crying and a strong chorus of thank you.  As I rode off into the sunset feeling pretty good about myself, I began thinking about CHANCE and how me and that woman in the car just happened to be at that spot at that particular time…  

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I began thinking, was it chance, coincidence, or a fucking miracle? Does everything happen for a reason?

That's when I realized that chance had little to do with it, nor was it a coincidence. There was a much bigger power at work… I've always believed everything happens for a reason, and after that experience, I had one more, no, make that two more reasons to believe…

When I met my wife in 1976, we considered Miracles one of 'our songs'. And it's become even more relevant forty-eight years later…

If only you believe like I believe, baby (If only you believe like I believe)
We'd get by
If only you believe in miracles, baby (If only you believe in miracles)
So would I