Tears, Surprises, and More Tears

A couple of days ago I woke up from a nightmare with this panicked thought:  What is today’s date?   I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized the “dreaded anniversary date” had already passed.  I assume some subconscious awareness of the date triggered the dream.

What was the dream about?  Well there were doctors, and military people and hospitals and lots of paperwork for transfers and consent forms.  I remember vividly sitting at a desk flipping through the paperwork and asking about the consent form.  Did we sign it?  Where was it?  Did the consent form signed at the first hospital transfer to the second?

August is a bittersweet month for me. In August we celebrate the birth of our Twins, Supergirl and Turtlegirl and we celebrate Honeybear’s birthday.  But that week of birthdays.(yes the twins were born just 8 days before Honeybear’s 26th birthday.) is also the anniversary of the beginning of the worst time of life.  

14 years ago this week we lived in limbo.  Supergirl needed to be medically transported to the United States for surgery.  We’d already been transported from one German hospital to another American Military Hospital and we were already supposed to have transferred from Germany to United States but Supergirl wasn’t stable enough to fly. The dream brought back all of the memories and negative emotions.  I thought: I’ll blog about this on *my* blog.  And then the tears came and I realized that I could NOT, even now, talk about it.  (and yes, as I type this my eyes are getting watery)  So I let myself have a little cry and decided NOT to blog that day.

So later that morning the doorbell rang.  It was the mailman.  There on my doorstep was a huge box.   It was addressed to me.  It came from the midwest.  I wasn’t expecting a review crew product and even though we were in birthday season this wasn’t from a grandparent or aunt or uncle with late/early presents.

Taped to the box was a letter.  It began with Dear Tess and Family.  It went on to say that this box was filled with goodies for my four girls and maybe even something for me.   It was box of love sent anonymously by a former crew mate. 

I followed the instructions and divided up the goodies into 4 gift bags (This angel from the crew had included tissue paper and gift bags!!!) and in the late afternoon I passed them out.

The box was a beautiful wonderful surprise that moved me to tears.   My children were thrilled.  The dress will be perfect for Christmas and fits Supergirl perfectly.  Turtlegirl loves the faux fur vest.   I love Pampered Chef and I was thrilled to see napkins and bamboo cooking spoons.   The napkins will be perfect for dressing up our Thanksgiving table and to use in the fall.  Such pretty fall colors!

So I sit here again getting all teary eyed thinking about that box again.  Somewhere in the midwest someone was thinking of me.  She was thinking of my girls.  She said that “God’s fingerprint was all over the process” of getting that box to me.  I am thankful that God laid it on her heart and that she responded.  I wish I could thank her personally but she didn’t give me her name. 

So a day that started out with my heart hurting over past memories ended with my heart overflowing with gratitude for a stranger.

Comments

  1. Love this post, Tess. God is good, all the time.

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  2. Wow! What an amazing story.
    Love to you always

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  3. Oh, Tess, thank you for sharing this. How faithful is our God! He knew just what you needed and when; prompting her ahead of time (thankfully she listened to that Still Small Voice); so your package would arrive at the PERFECT time. There is no God like Jehovah!

    Visiting from the crew and following via GFC.

    Continued Blessings to carry you right through August and every day,

    PK

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  4. What a wonderful gift! The things inside the box - yes - but especially the love and thought, and perfect timing. God is always here. Even when we feel alone.
    -Catherine

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  5. God is Good All the Time
    All the Time God is Good
    What a wonderful blessing.
    Hugs and prayers.

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  6. Wow! I love it when God does things like that. Blessings.

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  7. What a great story. A sweet blessing for you.

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  8. This is a beautiful post. I love to read about how others have blessed others. I love when the love of Christ shines bright through others. (And I used the word "others" a lot in this comment, sorry)

    :)

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  9. How sweet! God had the timing perfectly worked out.

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  10. And I thought I was getting it there late. So glad to hear it arrived intact and was such a blessing, in God's timing.

    You're very welcome.
    ~?? :)

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  11. Sniff...sniff....what a sweet story! :)

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  12. Thanks for sharing this. How sweet, and isn't God awesome for bringing friends like this into our lives? :)

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  13. What a neat story, Tess. I just love when God orchestrates those special surprises. I don't know who the messenger is, but I have a feeling this was as much a blessing to her as it was to you and your girls. :)

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  14. Well, since you know I was the little birdie who gave away your address...

    Can I tell you that Heidi is right, and that angel stranger was incredibly blessed...

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