An Unexplained Moment, A Gift From God

Years ago, I had one of those unexplained moments that caught me completely off-guard. Some would call it supernatural, something from beyond or even just my imagination. Though I don't understand it, I would call it a gift from God.

My mother-in-law lay dying in a hospital room on my daughter's first birthday. I had returned home from that hospital to put my daughter down for her afternoon nap.

I sat in our living room thinking about the day's events leading up to my mother-in-law’s hospitalization, when I felt a strong presence coming from our dining room. I knew no one was there and I didn't see a shadowy white figure or anything at all. Just this strong presence of someone there.

I knew exactly who it was. It was my mother-in-law's mother, a woman I had never met. She had died long before I entered the family. All that I knew about her, I learned from my husband who was very close to her.

I said nothing, just stared in the general direction of the presence. After a while, she was gone.

Why did she come? At the time, my only explanation is that my daughter is named for her.

I have friends who have had dreams of departed loved ones. Some would say that we dream of the people that have died because we miss them and that they are not visiting us in our dreams.

The more common belief is the "pennies from heaven." Random coins found in odd places as a reminder a loved one is reaching out to those still struggling with the loss. Some would say that that's just random coins found with no meaning behind them at all.

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”? Thomas Aquinas

I believe these private revelations are a gift from God. Our loved ones want us to be happy and they want us to know that they are happy, too. God allows this phenomonem to comfort us.

I still wonder about my husband’s grandmother coming to me that day. Perhaps in that quiet afternoon she wanted me to let my husband know that she was with all of us and was waiting to greet her daughter. I’ll never know for sure.