Small World

 by Macy Johnson

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.”

(Psalm 139:1 NIV)

 

January 20, 1945 is a date my family will always remember. Most of Europe was in the middle of World War II and the United States sent troops overseas to assist in the struggle. Daddy was a paratrooper at Fort Benning waiting for his deployment. He and my mother were huddled in a Justice of the Peace’s office in Columbus, Georgia with a small family gathering to witness their wedding vows.

 

Recently I read “We Were the Lucky Ones” by Georgia Hunter. Her family escaped the Nazi invasion of Poland during World War II. On January 20, 1945 one of the prominent characters of the book, Halina, was freed from prison in Krakow, Poland. I have visited Krakow and my birth father’s mother is from Poland. Small world!

 

I try to imagine the different mindsets of Halina and my mother on that day. Both were joyful for very different reasons. Why did God bring me to that specific chapter of that book? How was He active on that day long before I was born?

 

It’s a small world is a saying to show surprise that people or events in different places are connected, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. When I was 10 years old my family visited the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. My favorite exhibition was Disney’s “It’s a Small World.” I was delighted with the animated dolls from around the globe and reminded although our world seems big, it is small.  

 

In God all things are connected. Nothing is hidden from Him. I am thankful He unexpectedly reveals Himself and many surprising connections in our compact lives.

 

I will look for my heavenly Father’s hand in the world around me, in things big and small. I hope you will, too!