Just wait....

Something extraordinary happened last week!

It's been quite the month.
I have learned to sit still and heal.
Sitting still is so very difficult!
I was unable to be with the one I love the most
in her hour of greatest need.
I believe that others needed to step in.
I believe that God is always in control.
I believe He was telling me to let Him handle this,
because He loves her so very much more than I could even imagine.
He called my Grandma home.

I was able to help plan and celebrate her life!
It was a beautiful life.

The day after her memorial,
an old friend contacted me on facebook.
He wanted to let me know that he had been thinking of me
in this difficult time, and wondered if I was ok.
As we chatted and caught up on our families,
he mentioned that he wanted to return something to me
that he had kept for over thirty years.

(Ya that hurts even to write!)

I couldn't imagine what he was talking about.

He told me that he was holding something in his hand
that my grandmother had given me, and I had given him.
He felt it was time to return it.














(my initials KVT engraved on it)

I received the necklace in the mail today.
It is just as I remembered it.
And I remembered it as if it were yesterday,
when he told me what it was.
I had no words.
Thank you.

For thirty years God has been saving this charm in my friend's hand.
I had forgotten all about it.
God knew that I would need this gentle reminder
that He loves me and thinks of me every moment.

This dime sized charm began to stir in me,
that in every area of our lives,
the happiest of days,
when a child is born;
you find and marry the love of your life,
the spring sun shining brightly after winter's gloom,
or the most horrible of days,
saying good bye to a loved one;
loneliness,
illness,
during natural disasters,
that God is thinking of you.
He always has the perfect gift for you
even if it takes decades to arrive.
He has been planning this all along.

I will wear this reminder for a while.
Then I will put it into another treasure from Grandma
that was given to me last week.

In 1984 I  now remember
buying her a music jewelry box for Christmas.
She loved music boxes.
This one plays "Somebody Loves Me".
Inside was the note I had written her,
and the note she had written under my own.

"This goes to Kris Ballard after I'm gone,
a loving thoughtful granddaughter.
Grandma (Dorothy) Shaffner

Thank you God, for loving me!