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in issue twelve:
Synchronicity
Scintillations
The Phone Call
Finding Feathers
Did God Land Me
   This Waitress Gig?
Letting Good Happen
Continuous
   Synchronicity
Unexpected Inspiration
Rubber Band Fairy
Bird on My Shoulder
Listen To Your Body
Letters to
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Books That Changed
   My Life
Moody Girl

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Ally Moll: Rock My World
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future issues
Issue 13: Danger
Issue 14: Home
Issue 15: Transitions

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Hope And Synchronicity: Letting Good Happen
Karen Wilson

For most of my adult life, I had a big dream—to own a home in Laguna Beach, California, where I could see the Pacific Ocean from my front window. I grew up in a little beach town an hour north of Laguna, where, even though I couldn’t see the ocean, I could walk a mile to it. From sixth grade until I left home for college, I spent part of every free day connecting with the water. I would wade in with my jeans rolled up, study in a beach chair while my toes were tickled by the soft laps of the tide, or body surf when it was warm enough. When it was too cold, I bundled up in layers and walked the little cement path that ran parallel to the water line. The ocean was part of me.

Growing up, Laguna Beach held the magic combination of all my dreams: homes walking distance from the water, a strong community of artisans, and the happiness of a simple, hip community. Laguna Beach is a little jewel of several bays tucked neatly into its surrounding hills that is a haven for artists; a perfect place to feed my life-long love affair with art. The dream born in my childhood of owning a house in Laguna Beach stayed alive through hope: I never could give up that dream.

Keeping my hope alive, I developed a habit as an adult which I nurtured for a decade. Every morning at dawn, coffee in hand, I drove a few miles from my little tract home to our local beach in Newport. I began my day by walking on the beach in warm weather or sitting in my car in cold and thanking God for my family, health, the creative flow, and rainbow colors splaying across the dawn. By doing this, I felt in tune with a sense of the goodness and excitement of life. Then, believing that good things can happen, I asked God for a home in Laguna with a view of the water.

I kept up my morning routine faithfully and patiently. During that time, my husband and I had a conversation about our future and where we wanted to be five years down the road when our children would be “on their own.” He pictured a big house in a cozy suburban community; I clung to my vision of a beach house in Laguna. He believed this was too far beyond our reach, and I responded that he was just too conservative. At the time, we “agreed to disagree.”

Within two months of that conversation with my husband, a realtor friend called. He had previewed a home, and without knowledge of my dream, thought of me. It was a home in Laguna, set on a hillside. Instead of the cozy little cottage of my dreams, it was contemporary in style – clean and angular, with huge picture windows. The style appealed to my artistic senses, and the view blew both my husband and I away. It had not just a peek at the Pacific, but a broad panoramic view of this vast blue ocean, spanning eight miles down the coast to the south and then west to the sunset. We rapidly glanced through the house, stared at the view, and promptly fell in love.

Normally, such a house would be out of our price range, but in this case there was a huge telephone pole obstructing our view, which brought the price down to our level. Wild optimism convinced us we could see right past the pole. Immediately, we made an offer on the house. It was accepted. When I first heard the news, my stomach pushed my heart right into my mouth – I was elated, but shocked. Even though I’d been praying all along, I wasn’t quite sure I believed this much good could happen. The reality tested my faith in a whole new way. Heavy breathing and a prayer of thanks helped convince me that I’d really gotten the vision I hoped for.

The morning after our impulsive offer and for each day during the entire three months of escrow, I woke at dawn as usual and drove to a new quiet place in front of my dream home in Laguna. With the sun tinting the morning ocean a brilliant azalea pink, I thanked God for all of His delightful goodness, just like I had been doing for the last decade. Now I was all the more elated with this experience of synchronicity, and how, through hope and faith, I had let good happen.

Within a week after we moved in, the city informed us of its plan to remove all telephone poles in our neighborhood and bury them in the ground. After only one month our view was without blemish!

My Laguna Beach dream home had seemed impossible. Yet I always assumed good could happen because I believe in a gracious and generous God who loves to give good gifts to me and all of His children.

Now, the sun wakens me daily as it peeps up over the hill to my east, sprinkling the ocean with light that I can see through my bedroom window. I rise and brew a cup of tea. I have traded the seat in my car for my favorite dining room chair which faces this beautiful view. I gaze at the ocean and I thank God for aligning all the visible and invisible elements in a mystical way that brought my dream home to me.