Month: July 2019

This started off as a Facebook post but I soon realized it was getting too long. Could I have shortened it? Of course, but I wanted to take my time and present this. When I switched my brain to blog-mode, the title sounded like a book title, so naturally I Googled it. Sure enough, it is a series of books written by author, Squire Rushnell. Drat, he beat me to it! Lol! Digging a little further, I learned that this is an actual term (Am I the last to know this?):

god–wink. Noun. (plural God winks) An event or personal experience, often identified as coincidence, so astonishing that it is seen as a sign of divine intervention, especially when perceived as the answer to a prayer. (yourdictionary.com)

My God wink wasn’t divine intervention as the answer to a prayer but it was assurance that God and I were on the same page about some things in my life – very important things.

I was at dinner with a friend and we prayed before parting ways. The restaurant was about to close so we stopped just outside, in front to do this. We had parked a ways from each other and it was convenient. We were the second to last customers there and I thought the others were still eating as we left. They walked out just as we finished and the wife came over to us. She asked if she and her husband could pray also. Well, certainly you can! When he walked up, his T-shirt had “ITALIA” emblazoned across the chest. I LAUGHED!! He smiled but was obviously a little taken aback. Noticing the friendly, yet quizzical look on his face, I explained. A few days ago, I posted on Facebook that Italy was the most recent country to join the list of places where my podcast (The Skinny Girl Speaks) had been heard AND it’s the first stop on my very soon vacation.

Meeting fellow believers was God’s way of winking at me as if to say, “Yep, I’m with your podcast (which He confirms through feedback on a regular basis) and I’ll also be with you on your Jubilee vacation trip!” This resonated with me and I felt Him in that moment. It was like a welcoming arm draping over my shoulder and pulling me into a safe hug. My Father is SO good like that. It’s one of the innumerable ways He loves and speaks to us. Why, you may ask? As with the majority of us (dare I say ALL of us) who obey God’s direction that pulls you out of a comfort zone and places you in a spotlight of sorts, it’s challenging. By spotlight, I mean with no one else to hide behind under the guise of “partnering”. You feel vulnerable. You second guess yourself. You feel ill-equipped. And many other nagging negative thoughts begin buzzing around in your mind like a bunch of meddlesome mosquitoes. When starting the podcast, the thoughts said, “No one’s gonna listen.” When booking my solo vacation abroad, the thoughts said. “Everyone’s gonna stare at you.” So when God, winked, I desperately needed His validation. It warmed my heart and gave me the boost I needed.

We continued to chat, laugh and pray some more. What a wonderful evening it was!

I’ve mentioned the following before either on my podcast or probably in a previous blog. But I’d like to be intentionally repetitious.

God is talkative.

I’ve talked to many people who have said that they don’t talk to God because He doesn’t listen or care. When I ask what makes them think that, the responses are similar, “Because He never talks to me.” Oh, my dear friend! God talks all the time! Since He IS Almighty, His methods of communication are vast! You gotta listen/look for Him all the time. Remember the story of the prophet Elijah when God was talking to him? Elijah was trying to hear God in an earthquake, the wind and fire. But God’s voice came a different way, one to which Elijah was not yet accustomed. Same for us. This particular example for me was the God wink. I don’t believe in coincidences.

God cares about every aspect of our lives.

Someone once told me that with everything going on in the world, God has bigger fish to fry. Meaning my issues, concerns, requests paled in comparison, That person couldn’t have been more wrong. Here’s how I see it. If God cares enough to know the number of hairs on our head (which changes ALL the time) and bottles up our tears, then surely He’s interested in my “insignificant” things. He wants us to invite Him into our whole life, not compartmentalize and confine Him to Sunday service and maybe Wednesday night Bible study or small group.

I end every podcast with this, “God wants to do life with you.” so He sends us God winks along the way to remind us that He’s right there with us.