September 14th, 2003 I took Rob to the Minnesota Vikings 2nd football game of the season, which was also their home opener against the Chicago Bears. On our way down I knew Rob and I were going to need God's favor. We were running late so we needed no traffic jams and we also needed favor to get a parking place. We saw brake lights coming up and I said, "UH OH that is not conducive to us getting down there and being able to tailgate for a while." Rob immediately said a prayer and we did not have to stop but slowed down and drove straight through. A few more miles ahead it happened again. Many more brake lights appeared. I had a thought and it was that if we kept our faith in what we pray for in Jesus name, it will not fail. We never had to stop at the 2nd one either, we just slowed down a bit and drove on through. In fact in both cases the right lane which we were in moved quicker than the left lane, which is not usually the normal thing.

Now we needed favor from God for parking as we were now in downtown Minneapolis near the Metro Dome. If you get to the area ahead of time by at least 3 hours, you can usually find a good spot to park or get in a lot that is favorable to you so you can be near other friends of yours. You may even be able to find a parking meter which can save you a lot of money. Parking fees during a football game average $25. A meter will run you $4 - $6 depending on how long you park but they are very hard to find. The lot that I usually park in was full. The other lot, my so called back-up lot was also full. There were no meters available anywhere. Parking this year is extra scarce in the tailgating lots because there are 2 very large construction projects going on. 2 big buildings are being built that are taking up quite a bit of the old parking areas. But somehow I knew something would come up. I knew God's favor was with Rob and me. I called up Mike W. and Scott C. who I knew were at the game and asked them where they had parked, and both said that the lots that they were in were full. They were about 2 blocks away from each other. I just kept driving around and looking. I was also thinking that I did not want to have to pay $25. But we needed to park soon so we could go meet with our friends before the game. We then found a parking lot that was open, and I asked a guy how much was it to park there?� He said, "Nothing. No one is here charging anyone today I guess". As skeptical as that may seem, I took it as a sign thinking that it was the favor of God we were there. Now mind you if you get caught parking in a lot that you are not supposed to be in, you will either get a ticket to pay a big fine or your car will get towed away. So I have this brief thought in my head of, "What if the car gets towed or I get a ticket? Then I just answered my own thought and said to myself, "Have faith that it will be ok". I said a quick, "Thank you Father", and I never wondered about it again. After the game there was no ticket and the car was still there. Is that lot always free? I highly doubt it. I will check again next time I am down there, but I will only use that spot in a situation where I am running late or low on funds. I would not want to abuse that privilege and I know in my heart who to thank.

We met our friends in 2 separate areas. First we ran into Scott C., (He was the one who came over to my house 2 days ago to work on a double shower he had built for me last summer and I also work with him at the prison.) he was with his friend Chris. Chris is Bryan's brother with whom I work with in my part time job in real estate. Scott gave Rob and I each a cold bottle of Labatt Blue. He said it was not the beer sold here in the USA but that it was brought back from Canada. "The alcohol content is different", Scott said with a smile on his face. I tasted it and liked it. I thought it was crisp and pure and left no funny after taste. After we finished having our 1 beer with Scott, we left and went to meet another friend of mine who also is named Mike. My first name is Mike, short for Michael. I happen to have 2 really good friends named Mike as well; Mike W from the West Side, and Mike T from Como Park. �Mike W. was with a friend named Greg. I used to bowl with him and Mike about 9 years ago and I haven't seen Greg since then. I have known Mike W. since half way through the 3rd grade when I was 9 years old. That is almost 28 years as of right now. We met in Mrs. Troje's class in a school on the upper West Side called Cherokee Heights Elementary. Today was also Mike W.'s birthday. I wished him a Happy Birthday.

(Here is something that I just realized while writing this; after I moved away to a new part of town in the 10th grade and went to a new school in Como Park where I met Mike "Troje". Mike's last name of "Troje" was the exact same last name of the teacher who taught me in the 3rd grade where I met Mike W. That never before struck me as odd until now. Wow, does the Lord our God work in mysterious ways, and I am just realizing this more and more as I write these things down. It continues to fascinate me. Wait until you read of the things in my life in Chapter One which happened before I knew of God and Jesus. That is even more fascinating!)

The 4 of us walked around all of the tailgating lots and looked at how all of the fans were grilling and cooking and how they had their vehicles and themselves decorated. It is just a unique attraction to say the least. There is a lot of drunkenness at these tailgating parties. I know this; I used to get drunk at the parties there many of times. Now I can go there and have 2 beers and be just fine with it. After our walk, we went to where Mike W. and his friend were parked. I asked them if they had any cold beers left. Greg who was with Mike W. opened his trunk and handed Rob and I each a cold bottle of Labatt Blue. Mike's friend continued to say that this beer was not from the USA but was brought back from Canada. "The Labatt Blue from the USA is made weaker he said." I looked at Rob, and he looked at me and said, "You know, I thought that was funny when I seen these 2 guys with the same beer we had just had over at Scott's." I just smiled at Rob. We drank our 2nd beer of the day and then I was getting hungry. I yelled across the parking lot, "Does anyone have any left over food that they aren't going to eat?" The guys next to us said sure, and kindly cooked Rob and I a very tasty hamburger. "Thank you Father". I also thanked them also. We headed in to see the game and watched the Vikings win to make their record 2-0.

Now what are the chances of that? I may have tried a Labatt Blue in my life once. Maybe twice, maybe not at all, but I do not remember for sure. I have tried many beers in my past days and I don't remember specifically liking Labatt Blue in particular, which tells me that it would be rare if I drank some or purchased some myself. I have had many other Canadian beers that I have liked. The fact that I was now given 2 of them at 2 separate locations, by 2 separate people, who specifically told me that they had each gotten it from Canada and it was brought back from there, and that it was not the USA version of that brand of beer was not a coincidence.

That is basically what I am trying to tell you all with this book. These small unlikely coincidences are not coincidences. They are small miracles that God is using to tell us something. And He is telling me "2", and He keeps telling it to me; thus "2!". Why do you suppose He is telling me this? Might you have any idea at all? Would you care to make a guess? He knows I am writing this book, does He keep giving me these signs / miracles so that I have more content to write about? Possibly, only He knows.

But if that were the case then why is God using a "2" to do it. Why doesn't He use something else like the birds I was seeing early on? Why didn't He keep using them? How about a color, or a certain message, or a sound, or a full word? I hope you can see where I am going with this, as this is what I believe. I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe His 2nd coming is very near. I have an urgency to finish and publish this book, yet a caution to do it correctly with God's guidance. For nothing has nor will exist without God. I need more patience. Is patience given, earned or learned? With God, anything is possible and I think all of the 3 are probable.