Hashgacha protis

More times than you could count? I was really lost in E”Y when I was 15 years old and going to visit my cousin in Natanya whom I had visited once before a few weeks earlier. That first time, my cousin picked me up by bus, and took me back to the apartment, a fifteen minute walk from the bus depot. The second time, I had no idea where to go and no one seemed to be able to help me. So I just started walking randomly, and finally came to a stop and spotted someone. I asked him how to get to my cousin’s street, explaining I was a little farblunjet, and he started to laugh. I had walked, you see, DIRECTLY to the block of my cousin’s apartment. The place was across the street (the street signs were not so visible to me). I said “THANK You, Hashem,” and was in the apartment in less than two minutes. I had a similar experience looking for the bus going home from the Central Bus Depot in Tel Aviv, while returning from Natanya and going back to Ramat Gan. That was the very first time in my life that I recognized hashgocha protis for what it truly is. I definitely felt that Hashem was watching out for me.

When I cried, literally, for help for one of my kids and someone called hours later to offer the help that I cried for. Has happened several times since, too. I am amazed at how opaque (as opposed to transparent?) Hashem’s presence is when I have my eyes open.

We used to give our kids a nickel if they could tell us a HP story they ‘spotted’ themselves.