Insert Grace Here

Have you ever had a day so rich in blessings that you realized every single detail was orchestrated by God?  A day that reminded you that He knows right where you are and that your every care and concern is important to Him?  A day when your cup runneth over?

Blessings abounded for me this Tuesday so much so that I literally could not contain the joy.  That’s the beautiful thing about joy—bubbling inside of you like the fizz on the best Diet Coke you ever drank, filling you up, overflowing and dancing around you until it pours into another life.  If we’ll let it.  If we’ll remember its Source.

Tuesday morning I had breakfast with a friend from high school.  It had been 20 plus years since I’d seen Tonya Renee.  I called her Renee in high school.  If I can’t get used to Tonya, I suppose she’ll be Tonya Renee to me.  Over pancakes and sugar free syrup on my part that totally canceled out the insane pile of blueberries atop my pancakes, we caught up on two decades.  Funny thing about those pancakes and syrup—our topic of conversation turned to health.  A few stories later, we were convinced that God had indeed lined up our visit.

Why are we so surprised when God orders our steps?

I left breakfast blessed for the time spent with Tonya and plans for our next visit.  Cammie called to let me know that a package arrived for me from my precious blogging friend, Annie.  I knew it was coming.  Annie had me in great suspense of something coming my way, as she put it.  So I left IHOP already beaming from my morning with all the excitement of Sophie when she opened her presents at her 3rd birthday party.  Except that Sophie tried on multiple occasions to crawl underneath the table she shared with several of her little guests, through mounds of paper and tissue and already opened gifts to head for the inflatable jumpers.  It was hilarious!  I would reach under the table and pull her back to her chair where she plopped down with a pout before a sea of presents waiting to be opened.  But that’s another story.  And totally not the emotion that I expressed over my package.

I digress.

You know this about me, though.

Fast forward to scene two:  I meet Cammie at my friend’s resale shop where we both work.  Cammie has loaded the package into her car as she knows her mother cannot wait all stinkin’ day to open it.

Words cannot describe the love that spilled out of that box.  A box that was marked Howdy from Oklahoma!  YEEHAW!

The love of God poured out in the form of a grandmother’s package and spoke softly, “I am preparing you for this role,” and melted away the questions and cares that I had.

This blanket she sent will one day swaddle my grandson.  It will forever remind me of the love and care of Father God that wrapped me that day.

God handpicked you, my friend.  He reached into the blogosphere to form a friendship across the miles.

The intricate details of my package not only display the signature of God, they are evidence of a friend who loves wholeheartedly.  A priceless treasure that this woman of God would care so much for a woman she’s never met.

The diaper bag has a magnetic closure.  If you only knew the story of my quest for a wallet with a magnetic closure and the purchase I made while on the beach trip.  Or the Hobo wallet I mourned as I walked away refusing its $100 price tag.  But I’ll spare you.  You’re welcome.  The point is that the magnetic closure is a big thing to me.  The contents of the diaper bag included a bib that says  Spit Happens and an aspirator.  These two items just so happened to be the first two items that I noticed were bought from Cammie’s baby registry.  Coincidence?  I think not!  Could this mean that this woman took the time to see if Cammie had a baby registry and purchased something from it to send several states away?

Annie didn’t stop there!  Aside from the blanket, diaper bag, its many contents and beautiful card, she sent one of these necklaces for me and one for the mom to be.  Someone took a lot of time to hand make these beaded crosses.  The middle says Believe.

BUT WAIT!  There’s MORE! She sent a purse for Sophie with a wooden S inside and a birthday card.  The purse screamed Sophie. Such a blessing for my little three-year-old aunt-to-be.

Love covered me.  And spilled over to Cammie as well as my friend, Alyssa, who shared in my joy as I opened my package.

And it didn’t stop there!

Scene three:  My best friend of over 26 years, Tracie, had a 40th birthday package for me.  I knew it was coming.  And I knew it was a good one because the grin on her face told me so.  Like a kid on Christmas morning, I went by her office at the end of the day to receive my bounty.

I really wanted pictures of every single item from all of my packages, but I just couldn’t convince everyone to let me keep them all to myself until I could snap the shots.  Some people are just stingy. 🙂

Courtesy of Google, here is a shot of the Mary Kay Pamper Me set Tracie gave me.

It completes me.  Not really.  Jesus does.  But it’s great!  The soft and plushy pink bag includes a soft and plushy pink neck pillow, eye mask and socks.  Mary Kay clearly made this set with me in mind and Tracie knew all about it.

BUT WAIT!  There’s MORE! Tracie had the most beautiful gift basket made for me chock full of Mary Kay.  I went from not wanting to unwrap it lest I mar its beauty to unrestrained disassembling of its contents before I could snap a picture.

It included a fragrance set (of tropical scent, of course), mini Microdermabrasion set, eye shadows, lip gloss, Satin Hands sample, complete eye set, moisturizer samples, base and chocolate!  CHOCOLATE!  One thing that especially blessed me was that the eye set included an eye serum that Courtney so desperately needed as she recently had an allergic reaction to some new makeup and her eyes were very irritated and swollen.  I’m not one to stir things up, but between you and me, Courtney has a package of Avon products coming that I ordered from Tonya at breakfast.  I’m just sayin’—God’s love really covers!  Including Courtney’s eyes.

Once again, every single detail had the Master’s touch and the love of a friend who knows me so very well.

I knew once I laid my head on my plush neck pillow and looked over at Gavin’s blanket just before I pulled my soft eye mask over my eyes, the love of God would cover me like that soft, blue blanket and I would sleep like a baby.

My precious friends—Tonya, Annie, Tracie—a million thanks!  Through each of you, love covered. My cup runneth over!

I love you!