Last week my wife got a from a couple of female missionaries two states away where she lived before we married. Her adult children still live in the area.

Anyway, these missionaries called to tell my wife that one of her sons told them to call to let her know he was OK.

He is one of her estranged kids. My wife still sends birthday and holiday cards and gifts to her estranged kids through one of her daughters that still does talk to her. All of the kids, with the exception of the daughter, have left the church.

The missionaries explained that they were tracting one of their usual neighborhoods when they knocked on my stepson's door. He was immediately very suspicious about who told them where he lived. They said nobody sent them, but that they were knocking on doors in the neighborhood.

He calmed down and the missionaries eventually learned that he was baptized as a child, but had stopped going to church a long time ago. He declined all invitations by the missionaries to attend church with them, take lessons, or even a BOM. However, when they asked if there was something they could do for him, he asked them to call his mother and let her know he was OK.

After he gave them my wife's number, they asked if there was a reason he didn't call her himself. He told them that it's been a couple years since he called her, and that he has her number blocked. He just wanted her to not worry about him.

Well, my wife thinks it's a miracle..."What are the odds?"

Actually, I think the odds are pretty good and am a little surprised that some missionaries hadn't stumbled upon him earlier. He's also had a couple years to cool down and grow up, so he probably saw this as an opportunity to open the door a small crack without taking the chance of throwing it wide open and discovering that his mom no longer wants anything to do with him.

What do you think; a miracle or just something that was bound to happen?

Regardless, it made my wife's day.

"What do you think; a miracle or just something that was bound to happen?"

Coincidence.

Unless "miracle" is a word you use for anything you can't immediately explain...

Not a "miracle." :)

Good news, perhaps. Miracle...no.

Thanks for confirming my sense that my wife should be guardedly optimistic.

No issues between them have been resolved; and aside from this oblique communication, this is not a two-way conversation. There's still a ways to go and hurdles to be jumped before a relationship is reestablished.

This may simply be a one-off for all we know, though there is some room for hope.

It may be a "one-off."

But it has to be at least a little bit encouraging that he thought about your wife, and wanted to let her know he was OK.

It shows he feels SOMETHING. Reason for a bit of hope, yes? :)

A miracle as in divine intervention? I have to go with No.

A miracle as in a highly improbable or extraordinary set of circumstances that brought a pleasing result. Possibly, but probably not.

Serendipity. For sure. And, good for your wife that she got that.

A true miracle is like when somebody actually lets a missionary give them a BoM and the Missionary never sees them toss it in the garbage a few minutes later as he feels the spirit so strongly and can't wait to report the miracle to his parents. :)

I see missionaries walking through our neighborhood all the time, and it's primarily because we live here. Depending on the time of day, they will knock on a few doors after leaving our place; so it's not a stretch to imagine that the sister missionaries were knocking on doors within a couple blocks of a member or investigator who just happened to live close to my stepson. It's not like he's living in some remote location where he can only be reached by dogsled.

There's a heirachy...


Miracle

Minor Miracle

Tender Mercy

Miracle: The seagulls ate the crickets!

Minor Miracle: The crickets didn't eat all the crops before the seagulls ate them!

Tender Mercy: There aren't enough crops to last the winter, so we'll make it through by boiling all our spare leather!