Pennies From Heaven

Has anyone ever heard the term "pennies from heaven?" Well I had never heard it called that until my grandmother passed away on Christmas and several weird (and I say that in a good way) things happened and my grandfather told me about this phrase. Basically, it means that when our loved ones are watching over us from heaven that they send us little messages so that we know they are there - such as finding a penny in our path! These are just a few "pennies from heaven" that we have had the privilege of experiencing in these past weeks.

1)My parents have a Christmas cactus at their house that they've had for several years. These are supposed to bloom around Christmas, but for some reason, theirs had never bloomed - EVER and they had no idea what color it was! That is, until this year. The day before my grandmother passed away, it bloomed!!! And, not that this was enough, but the color of the blooms were the same exact color of the sweater that she had picked out to be buried in!!!!! Who knew?! Also, the sweater she picked out had a jeweled bow on it that was very festive looking. It was like she knew that she was going to be with Our Saviour on his birthday!

2)Before she got really sick, my grandmother had ordered Christmas snowglobes for the great grandkids for Christmas. Grandaddy gave them to me to give the girls, but I kept forgetting to get them out of my car. Finally, while cleaning out my car, I found them and put them in the house, still in the box. The box was just a gold box with no pictures, words, etc. As soon as I cleaned my car out, we had to run some errands, I loaded the girls up and off we went! Well, out of the blue, Mary Mac says, "Mom, do you know what would be perfect for my playroom?" Since it was just a few days after Christmas and new toys and all of the decorations were put away, I was not expecting her answer. She said simply and matter-of-factly,

"A snow-glo!"
me: "What? You mean a snow-globe?"
MMC: "Yes, ma'am, that's what I meant. You know, the round things that have white stuff blowing around inside?"
me: "Yes, I know what you're talking about." I then went on to tell her about what Mamaw had bought for her and Grandaddy wanted her to have it, blah, blah, blah
MMC: "I know, she told me!"

Well you can only imagine what or how I felt by this statement being that we had only buried her the day before. Not to mention, I have no idea how she even knew what a snow globe was. We don't have any of them in our house, not even as Christmas decorations. When we got home later that afternoon, I opened the box and gave it to her. With her sweet innocent little voice, she said, "That's perfect and beautiful and just what I imaginated (that's how she says imagined)! Can I put it on my shelf in my playroom so that when I miss Mamaw I can look at it and remember her?" Oh, can we just say that the tears were FLOWING by this point!!!! It just reaffirms to me that our loved ones are watching us and wanting us to know that they are ok and definitely in a better place! Also, does anyone else think that maybe as adults our hearts are so hardened that we ignore these things until a child makes you stop and think, well, maybe?