Hours after I was told that my grandmother passed away I was still numb. I
was home alone with my little one who still needed to play, learn and eat. I
shuffled my feelings to the side and tried to approach the day as normal.
However, thoughts that I didn’t want to have kept clouding my mind and put me
in a daze.
“God, is she with you right now?" This is what repeated over
and over in my mind. Although I knew she believed in God, she was not outspoken
about her faith or relationship with God; causing me to have questions I did
not want to have.
I was tired of stuffing my feelings inside, so while my son
and I sat down for lunch I prayed. “God,
give me a sign that my grandmother is with you….I need to know”. I was cleaning up lunch when there was a knock
at the door. No one ever comes to our door unless it’s the mail man so I was
taken by surprise.
When I opened the door there stood a man with his son. His
son was wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt and had a big grin on his face. The
father said “hi, we are from the Episcopal church down the road and we wanted to
give you something”. “It is a cross that one of the elderly ladies at the
church knitted for you”. “God bless you and visit our church anytime”.
That tightness in my throat started creeping up like a flood
and, not wanting to cry, I said something silly like “thank you so much, I like
your sweatshirt…Go Buckeyes." The child smiled even wider and said “Are you
going to watch the basketball game today?” “You bet” I said.
I closed the door and light poured into the windows. God’s
warmth wrapped around me like a blanket and I felt washed over with peace.
Tears started pouring down my face. I scooped up my son and ran out to the
sidewalk to see what house the man and child where going to next, but he was
gone. Where were they? I walked down to the end of the street, holding my son
and the cross looking, searching. They were gone. Just like that they vanished.
My fingers started to tremble and the cool wind wrapped around
our faces. I rushed back inside and sat my son on the floor to watch TV. I needed to process the overwhelming emotions I was feeling. Just then the TV tells
me it needs to change the channel because I am recording two programs at once. I hit ‘ok, change’ and it switches over to
the Ohio State basketball game that my husband has recording. The reporters on
the screen start talking about the weeks previous games and mentioned that Syracuse
had lost their game last night.
I was immediately
struck again with a feeling I will never forget. I turned off the TV and
started laughing. I laughed and I cried I thanked God with every ounce of my
being.
You see, my
grandmother was a huge Syracuse fan. It was her alma mater and she never
missed a game. She knew the names of all the players and spoke of them frequently. That game was the last
thing she watched before going to bed and passing away in her sleep.
The cross was a sign to let me know that my
grandmother was walking with Jesus in heaven. The angel in the Ohio State
sweatshirt was there to remind me of God’s joy. In a day full of sadness and
grief I felt full of peace and joy. Only God can do that!
Joy and Peace are God’s gifts to us all. When we love God,
when we trust God, and when we believe in the Holy Spirit we are graced by Him
all day, every day. When our eyes are open, looking and searching for God, we will see Him. When we ask
God for something, He will give it to us as long as it is His will.
This Christmas Season, and every season, invite the Holy
Spirit into your soul. Ask Him to transform your mind and heart. Ask God to bring Angels to your door and give
your hands and feet to Jesus so that you can be an angel to someone else.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" Luke 2:14
This Post is linked up to Titus2Tuesdays http://cornerstoneconfessions.com/2014/12/titus-2-tuesday-133.html
&
http://www.w2wministries.org/
&
http://www.w2wministries.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment