is this a sign?

Maybe it's because I grew up in churches where God 'spoke' through everything and everyone, or perhaps I have a shadowy superstitious streak, or it could be that I just like a bit of a laugh... whatever the reason, I've developed the habit of saying "it's a sign!" when circumstances seem particularly stacked for (or against) a certain decision. But mostly I say it as a joke.

Not that I don't believe God is interested in my life, and certainly my experience is that if I take time to tune in to his voice, she speaks through the wind and the sun and the birds and the rain. But after years of unsuccessful searching for flashing neon signs in the sky every time I have a decision to make, I've realised that mostly God lets me make up my own mind about what I will or will not do. Occasionally I have a strong sense I should do this or that but most of the time I get on with making the best decision based on the available information and then I ask God to walk with me through the choice or to help me survive the ensuing consequences. God is very present in my life, but he is no voodoo doll responding on demand.

That being said, I've started wondering if God is trying to speak to me about the new credit card I'm applying for!

Now it's OK... I'm not planning on running up massive amounts of debt in the midst of a credit crisis, but one of my friends recommended her institution's credit card because their interest rate was a wapping 8% lower than that of my current credit card. I thought it was worth looking into so when I had 15 minutes to spare a couple of weeks ago I ducked in and filled out the forms.

Apparently the government in its wisdom recently decided that it was not sufficient for me to show my 100 points of ID and payslip in order to receive instant credit. Now I must photocopy each item, have the copy certified by a JP and then present it to the financial institution. I dutifully photocopied everything, had it certified and handed it over to complete my application last week. Except that I miscalculated the ID points and only supplied 90. I needed to make another trip to the JP and (feeling very embarrassed) I wondered if there was any point bothering - I mostly pay off the account each month anyway so what's the point of a lower interest rate?

Over the course of the week I decided it wasn't really too much trouble to get one more copy certified, so today I trudged back to the library and dragged the JP from her very important work in order to certify my final measly copy. I represented every single signed form at the financial institution and all seemed well.

Until half way through my pleasant stroll home my mobile rang... "Ah, Cecily, we haven't quite finished the paper work. You haven't signed the application (because you were in such a rush the day you first applied - 15 minutes wasn't really long enough after all). We can't process it until you come back and sign on the dotted line."

Again I am left wondering if this is worth all the effort! Four trips to their office just to apply for a card I don't really need and merely liked the interest rate of?! And the colour and shape of the card is nice too, but I wasn't going to mention that... seems a bit trite and all.

Sigh. "Next week" I said, "I'll be back next week."

And, ah, God... are you saying something here? Is this a sign? Should I be listening?!