A Gift From An Angel, or Two :)

Note: Less than a week after the unlikely incident recorded in my post Sibling Rivalry (and Love) Through the Veil, this sweet and tender story broadens in a much more tangible way.

________________________________________________________________________________

When angels work through us mortal beings to accomplish their God-given purposes, we too become angels, the mortal kind, instruments in the hands of God. 

Yesterday, I saw with my eyes, felt in my hands, and witnessed with my heart, how at least one heavenly angel spoke to the heart of a mortal angel, and through our physical world, blessed a sweet little, 3-year-old girl, patiently waiting for her brother's resurrection so she could have the toy that was buried with him...

We were about to leave, walking away from her house as she dug quickly through her front porch mailbox and pulled out a white package. It must have just arrived during our visit. 

As she stopped me and handed it over, she only said not to open it in front of Sydney. 

I wondered at this, but then, between her next words and what I could feel through the soft packaging, I knew right away what it was. 

The tears came almost instantly, and I went toward her, giving her the kind of embrace you just can't release.

If I wasn't expecting the tears I cried in her front yard that moment, then I definitely wasn't prepared for the tears that came later that afternoon... 

I had set the package on my bed, wondering where and how we should open it. Should we do it at the cemetery? That would be unnecessary. I waited a little while more. 

When I walked back into my room and saw the unopened package on my bed, thinking about the contents inside, it finally came to me, hitting my heart instantly, triggering tears that lasted the better half of the afternoon. In that moment I felt the love Isaac had for his sister Sydney. 

It was from him.

The tears flowed with the sweetness that I felt in my heart as I took the unopened package to Sydney to have her do the honors. 

I explained to her that Isaac loved her and had found a way to share with her without making her wait. 

I told her exactly what I felt.

"Isaac's sweet spirit spoke to our friend A****'s heart and she was moved to find this same "tiny elephant" and have it sent here so that you don't have to wait for Jesus to open the box to get it. 

Isaac wanted you to have it now, and our friend A**** was the one who helped him get it to you."

In her own words, A**** explained in an email:

"Sydney is already going to have to wait patiently to be with Isaac…I hoped that by having an elephant like the one waiting with him it might help to bring them just a little closer in the meantime." 

Through the spirit are people moved to do good, and I believe in her act of friendship and love, she was acting upon the spirit. She was an instrument in the hands of God, working through angels, on behalf of Isaac, to send a message to his older sister.

Whether gifts from Heaven come straight into our hearts or first into our mailboxes,

the message is always the same

--love. 

When we are able to recognize it, that message of love becomes the greatest gift of all.

It came with a sucker, too. 

Sydney's favorite. :)