Fortune Cookies

Ever since experiencing my first fortune cookie as a kid, I fell in love with them.  There's something so fun and silly about cracking open a cookie (which, by the way, I also love to eat!), unwrapping a little white paper, and discovering your "fortune" for the day.  I'm not a superstitious person, but I find such joy in reading those little papers.  

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In the midst of our journey to become parents...in the midst of the months and months of waiting and longing, first through infertility and later through the adoption process...we were blessed with such support and love from our family and friends.  Encouragement and love would appear in the most random ways...at the most perfect times.  Cards in the mail, emails, a visit from a friend, lunch with my parents, tickets to concerts, opportunities to attend retreats and hear amazing speakers.  Each way blessed our lives richly and helped us to keep going...even in those moments when we questioned God and wondered if we'd really ever become parents.  

And I will never forget an instance when a FORTUNE COOKIE...a random source of encouragement and wisdom...gave me that boost to keep believing that I would one day become a mom.  

My dad invited me to join him for lunch at a local Chinese buffet.  Like every other visit, our meal concluded with the delivery of our check to our table...on a little black plastic tray...with two fortune cookies.  And our tradition was to crack open those cookies and read our fortunes aloud.  On that day...in the very midst of months of waiting, doubting, and hoping, my fortune said this....

I'm pretty sure I nearly fell off my chair.  The words that bounced off that tiny piece of paper resonated with my heart and soul.  I couldn't believe that such encouragement could come from a fortune cookie.  But it did!  And just this morning as I opened our desk drawer, I noticed that fortune just laying there.  I had kept it.  Had forgotten about it.  But for some reason...even though it's been there for YEARS ever since...I noticed it again today.  And it spoke to me again.  

I love when we're blessed in the most random of ways.  From the most unlikely sources.  Whether it's from a fortune cookie, billboard, tv commercial, or song...a post on Facebook, a text from a friend, or the laughter of a perfect stranger...you never know who's life you're making a difference in.  And just when you need some encouragement, look for it...or it just might find you...like in the case of my fortune cookie.