Arrival was more than coincidence

HOW many times do we all have a strange coincidence happen in our lives?

Or is it more than a coincidence?

Marlene Lester, from Ballina, is convinced that something that happened to her and her grandson, Jackson, recently was much more than coincidence, but a divine intervention.

At the very least, it's an act of generosity from strangers.

Marlene earlier this year almost lost her house to a fire - but the fire was stopped by a neighbour.

The story appeared in The Northern Star, and then on the Bundaberg News website through the APN News and Media network.

A Queensland couple read the story, and knew of Marlene through a Catholic internet forum about Saint Mary MacKillop they are both involved with.

The couple sent a letter and a book about Saint Mary to Marlene to give to nine-year-old Jackson.

They also promised to give Jackson a statue of Australia's first saint - but it had to be ordered and they couldn't say when it would arrive.

On September 12 Jackson told Marlene about a dream he had the night before in which he saw Mary MacKillop in their house.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and a parcel arrived.

It was the promised statue of Mary.

"We both got a shock," Marlene said.

She has reported the "divine intervention" to the Catholic Church.