The Gift In A Bag

I reconnected with a friend a few months ago.
This is when social media can be a blessing.
We sat together on the soccer field when our children were young many years ago.
We had wonderful long talks during those games.

At the time, she lived very close to me.
However, we were never in each other’s homes.
It was a friendship based on children, school, and sports.
We always enjoyed our talks on the field.

We lost touch as our children got older.
I knew that she was an incredible cook.
She actually taught home economics for a time in our district and at a local university.
I can imagine how much the students gleaned from her expertise.

It was many years later, I heard that she had moved away.
I had no idea where she had moved.
There were no more soccer games.
There were no more long talks on the soccer field.

Then I noticed that someone liked something I had posted.
I glanced quickly and noticed the last name.
I was thrilled to see that name after so many years.
I decided that I would send her a friend request and write her a private message.

Later that night, I saw that I had a message.
I clicked on it so I could read it.
It ended up that I sent a friend request to her daughter.
I sent the message that was meant for her mother to this particular young woman as well.

Her daughter was so gracious.
I knew her daughter well, since she went to school with one of my daughters.
She is now married with two little girls of her own.
She promised that she would make sure her mother got the message.

What threw me off was that there was a picture of my friend with her granddaughters.
When I saw that picture and the last name, I put the puzzle pieces together incorrectly.
However, there are no accidents.
We were all meant to reconnect.

I copied the message that inadvertently got sent to her daughter and sent it to my friend.
We decided to meet for lunch.
There was years of catching up to do.
The lunch was on the calendar and just took place, much to our delight.

This friend had no idea that something she did at the end of our lunch meant so much.
Her daughter was friends with my daughter who is now expecting our first grandchild.
My friend and I marveled at the passage of time.
Weren’t they just girls a few weeks ago? We mused.

When my daughter was a little girl, there was something at her grandparent’s house she loved.
My husband’s mother had a doorstop that looked like a calico cat.
It was quite heavy.
It was supposed to be heavy in order to do the job it was supposed to do.

I never knew how she did it, but my little daughter was able to pick up the cat doorstop.
I would see her lift it and hold it close to her chest.
Thankfully, it was a stuffed calico cat.
However, it was heavy for a toddler to carry.

Somehow she did it.
She would carry the calico cat and place it somewhere else where she would talk to it.
She enjoyed that calico cat doorstop so much.
No one really knew why she was so drawn to it.

At the end of our lunch, my friend reached for a gift bag that she had on the seat next to her.
This is just a little something for you, she said as she handed the gift bag to me.
A friend did this for me when I was becoming a grandmother, she told me.
I unwrapped the heavy object and removed the tissue paper.

I unwrapped a stone bunny.
This is a bunny for your garden for your expected, little “bunny,” she said.
Find a place in your garden so it will remind you of your grandchild and me, she said sweetly.
I could not believe the precious gift; there was no way for her to know the memories it triggered.

I drove home and imagined a bit.
What if my grandchild wants to carry the bunny like my daughter carried the calico cat?
What if everyone marvels at how this child could possibly carry something so heavy?
What if the bunny for our expected, little bunny reminds my daughter of another time?

There was no way my friend knew any of this.
There was no way she could have possibly known.
She gave me a gift that meant much more than she knew.
She gave me a memory that was wrapped in new packaging.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

God the Father gives good gifts.
God the Father gives perfect gifts.
When we give gifts to each other, we are following God’s example.
When we give gifts, God cares about our heart more than He cares about the gift itself.

God cares that we give gifts from our heart.
We give gifts for the joy of the recipient.
We give gifts for God’s glory.
Our gifts will reflect the Father when they are given humbly, from a sincere heart.

My friend gave me more than she knew.
I unwrapped a memory.
I will place the bunny for our expected, little bunny in a special place.
I will smile and think of my grandchild and my friend every time I look at it.