Ah synchronicity, aka God winks. I love when they happen! God winked at me today on a sunny Sunday when I was privileged to bring my little great-niece to church and receive Holy Communion.
As I received Communion I pondered what special prayer I would offer up to God. So many prayers came to mind, but this day my prayer was for Andrew, a teenager who passed away from cancer just a couple weeks ago. I prayed that his family's grief would turn to a sense of peace knowing that he was now with God.

After the worship service my great-niece came running up to me with her hand opened shouting, "Look Aunt Ann!" I looked down to see a sticker of a dove, the sign of the Holy Spirit, resting in her palm. It was precious, but not mind boggling. Children often receive stickers at church. They could be a lamb, an angel, a cross, the word "Jesus," a shepherd, or any number of Christian images, including a dove. I smiled knowing that she was learning about God. I also stuck my finger in the gold glitter glue on a bookmark she made, but hey, life is like that sometime! :) Sometimes, actually often, we are too busy living life to look for signs from God, and that was my situation at that moment.
Minutes later my great-niece and I drove off to Long Branch to pick up her mother, my niece Nicole, at the train station. That's when things got interesting!

As I drove over the 195 overpass bridge on Aldridge Road, I spotted a white dove sitting on the fencing. My first thought was, "Wow, that's rare, and I have my camera. I should turn around and snap a picture. It took me a few minutes to find a place to turn around. I actually had to turn onto Maxim Southard Road and make a U-turn in the parking lot of Howell Community Church. As I headed back towards the overpass I began to feel a little foolish, certain that the dove had probably flown away by then. I was wrong and right--wrong to doubt and right to turn around. The dove was still there.

I pulled over onto the side of the road several feet away and began to snap pictures using my telephoto lens. The bird stayed put. I drove a little closer and snapped a few more pics. The bird stayed still. Finally, I pulled right up alongside the bird. It cocked its head and looked into my eyes. I snapped one more pic, turned around, and headed back toward Long Branch, still not fully aware of the synchronicity of the moment.

A few minutes later it hit me. I remembered Julie's dove sticker--a dove--the sign of peace--the sign of the Holy Spirit! These are the moments that make me feel God's presence in a world where so many people are losing faith. These are the moments that give ME peace.

The next thirty minutes involved a series of texts from Nicole, each requiring me to pull over to respond. at 1:05 Nicole texted, "I'm here." I responded with, "I'm running late. I was held up by a white dove." Nicole texted back, "Ha ha!" I responded, "No I REALLY was held up by a white dove. I have the pics to prove it." Finally, Nicole texted, "I believe you!" AMEN! :)