Seeing God in a rock

She was despondent and walking the beach alone. Suddenly she came upon a stone that had the markings of a cross embedded in it. And she rejoiced to know that God had heard her cry.

If your friend had reported that to you, as mine did, would you think her a lovable crackpot? I used to have the world divided into two kinds of Christians-the sensible kind like me, and the kind who saw God in rocks.

But in recent years I have been asking God for "spiritual eyes," to see everything by faith. If God issued report cards, I am probably getting about a C- in this new course. For example, I asked Him to "teach me to number my days, that I would have a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90). Then I got back-to-back heart and cancer scares. Plus just this week a childhood friend and a cousin of a friend both died at age 56 (my age), all of which were very sobering. God's messages to me? Or coincidence?

Ignorant of the world of finance, I happened to pull my retirement savings out of one company and rolled it over to another investment company-just before Bear Sterns. And it has been sitting there, "in cash," for weeks. My financial counselor told me I must have been "divinely inspired," and that I would have taken about an $8,000 hit if I had been in the markets. My friend David interpreted the event as an answer to our prayers for my finances.

My hair's been falling out. I think it might be God dealing with my deep secret vanity. But maybe my hair is just falling out. How much should I see God in the minutia of my life?