Tell Us About . . . Accidents: Coincidences, Luck, and Happy Accidents

What do you think when you hear about an accident? Usually I picture a car wreck or maybe a nasty fall. Something that went horribly wrong, but not necessarily on purpose, and had a very unhappy result. But when we say it was a "happy accident" as the late Bob Ross used to do, it changes our view entirely. Then it's something very unexpected and not on purpose but the result was delightful, led to good outcomes, or was somehow changed from a negative to a positive.

While Mr Ross was known for his optimistic approach of turning a "mistake" in a painting into something good, there's another kind of happy accident that is known as serendipity. Thanks to an article I wrote a few years ago, I have a definition to share, and my own story of serendipitous happy accidents.

serendipity - an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident; good fortune, luck

This term was coined in 1754 and came to mean stumbling upon lucky discoveries and having amazingly good luck. Happy accidents, if you will. This word, serendipity, was a prompt in a writing challenge I participated in, and it's what I thought of when I saw the Tell Us About theme for this month. Happy accidents and lucky coincidences are the theme of the story of how we won a lottery and moved to the United States. 

Not only did we win a lottery, but we had quite a series of happy accidents after the big win. Just so you know, it was the green card lottery, not a Powerball or MegaMillions lottery, so the prize was not cash but opportunity. It's hard to say whether the odds are better or not, but I can tell you that winning the initial draw is only the start. There's a whole series of other 'lotteries' that must be won as well before having your name drawn the first time does you any good. So it takes more than just dumb luck.

My husband and I are Canadians. He grew up in southern Ontario and I grew up in Calgary, Alberta. We met in the middle at college. We lived in Calgary for the first few years we were married. Early in 1993, we lived in Calgary, and he was working in a greenhouse, and we received surprising news - his name had been drawn in the green card 'lottery' he'd entered the previous year! What luck! We hadn't won millions of dollars, but we had won an opportunity to find a job in the USA and be able to live and work there.

So he started applying for jobs, but there wasn't much response. One day, his manager brought him into the office to take a call. A grower in New Jersey had called for a reference for someone else, and the manager had said, "I have a different guy here that I'd much rather recommend, and he has been looking for a job in the US. Want to talk to him?" Very shortly after that, my husband flew out for an interview and was offered the job. A job he hadn't even applied for. What are the chances, right? Someone else that used to work at the same relatively small place had applied to a company on the other side of the continent, and the manager had suggested my husband instead! Was that just a lucky accident?

Next, we needed to apply for the green cards. Although 30,000 names were drawn, only 10,000 visas were awarded, and one is needed for each family member. In addition, we found out that we needed specific appointment slots at the consulate for the number of visas we'd need, which was three. Time was also running out - they had started awarding the visas at least six months previous, and we don't know how many were left at that point. Everything was booked up for the month when I called, and we thought we'd need to wait, but I was advised to call after a week or so to see if there were cancellations. We were getting rather anxious because we had been so close, and now everything was on hold unless and until we could secure the appointments. And then in another happy accident for us, three spots had opened up, so we could get our visas processed.

Lucky coincidences and happy accidents? Good fortune on our side?  Serendipity or some good karma? I don't believe in those things, really. Instead, we believe God was at work and it wasn't just an accident that it all happened the way it did. He had my husband's name drawn out of the thousands entered; he orchestrated a phone call that led to a job offer in a place we hadn't thought to look; he made sure we'd find the exact appointments we needed, just in time; and he had 'reserved' visas for us. If it was just the luck of the draw, it was at God's direction.

The dice are thrown into the lap,

but their every decision is from the LORD.

~Proverbs 16:33~

 After only a couple of years in New Jersey, we moved to Maryland and that decision was also sort of a happy accident. We'd been weighing two job offers and didn't really have a clear sense of which one to accept, but right at our deadline to decide, one of the two called and said they had decided it was not good timing for them to hire at that point after all. Decision made and we were off to Maryland! Another place we wouldn't have thought to look, never expected to live in, but we loved our time there. 

Many years later, our move to Ohio was also a series of coincidences and lucky accidents too. My husband's job had just ended and we were completely stunned by that 'accident'. He started making contact with industry headhunters to get a job search going, because we knew we'd have to move. Our criteria for location was that it needed to be within a short day's drive of both Maryland and Columbus, since that's where our kids were. A gentleman he didn't know called and said he'd been given his name from someone in the industry and he wondered if my husband would be a good fit for a position that was opening up. Once again, someone we didn't know presenting a job opportunity we wouldn't have known about. It sounded interesting but before getting too far, my husband asked where the greenhouse was. Just outside of Columbus. After phone discussion, they wanted to know if we could come for an in-person interview, ideally the last week of October if possible. We'd already made plans to be in Columbus that week to visit our son. Just by lucky accidents, things had fallen into place yet again.

It's been said that a coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous, and maybe we could say that about serendipity or about happy accidents and luck as well.

God knew where we needed to be, and had a purpose for us. He had a plan for us. After that first big move to New Jersey, I was struck by part of the apostle Paul's speech in Athens that came to mean a lot to me, and I've returned to it again and again, because it's a reminder that none of us are where we are by accident.

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

 ~Acts 17:26-27~

What if none of us are here just by accident, and the luck or serendipty we experience in our lives is actually the work of God? Is he putting opportunities in our path, helping us connect with others, or trying to get our attention? Is he answering our prayers, or offering us a chance to participate in the answer to someone else's prayers? 

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

~Ephesians 2:10~

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

~Psalm 139:16~

This post is adapted from previous versions of this article. It first appeared on Homeschool Coffee Break in February 2021: Write 28 Days - Serendipity and appeared here at A Fresh Cup of Coffee in February 2023: How We Won The Lottery

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Tell Us About . . . is a monthly opportunity for bloggers to showcase their creativity. Each month one of the co-hosts will choose the word to focus on. On the third Thursday of every month we'll respond to the prompt "Tell Us About ---" which could be absolutely anything. And how we respond is also wide open. It could be a blog post with our opinions or reminiscences; a poem, photos, a short story or whatever takes your fancy―it could even be a mix of all these! This month's theme, chosen by Marsha at Marsha In The Middle is "Accident".

This post is linked at Marsha In The Middle.

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