Whispers from Heaven

Today started out as just a typical day.  But, this afternoon was filled with quite a few surprises.  I had to take Caleb to his chemistry class.  After he was finished, I took him, Nathan (a friend who's visiting), Corben and Carlie and dropped them off at the church so that they could be there for Corben's Upward basketball practice.  I needed to come home and get some things done.  The first thing I did when I got home was check the mail.  I also noticed when I pulled up into my driveway that I had a package on my front porch.  So, I brought all of my mail in.  I started to open the mail.  There were several Christmas cards.  A couple of the cards brought tears to my eyes - a lot of tears!  Since Chandler went to heaven, I've been blessed with a lot of new friends.  These are special friends but I've never met them in person.  The sad thing is that we have become friends because we have all lost a child.  We are grieving moms.  Although most of us haven't met each other, we care for one another.  We keep in touch on a Facebook page where we leave messages of all kinds.  We share our pain, our beautiful memories of our children, our sadness, our encouragement to one another, our frustration, etc.  If we are having an especially bad day, we can go there and let it all out and we know that all of the other moms will be lifting us up in prayer for that day.  If we are having a good day or we've received a word from the Lord, we can go there and share with the others.  We remember our children's birthdays together and we also remember the days that they left us for heaven.  It is an amazing group of women.  It's just sad the way we met and what we all have in common.  I said all of that to say that one of those ladies sent me a beautiful card today with a bookmark in it that had a great poem.  It says: 

No Tears in Heaven

There are no tears in Heaven
  nor grief of any kind;
I leave this final teardrop
  to those I've left behind.

Though absent from the body,
  I'm present with the Lord;
  the joy of my salvation
  is now my full reward.

And just as God has promised,
  He's wiped my tears away,
and nothing can compare to
  the wonder of that day.

So keep me in your memory
  and know that up above
there are no tears in Heaven,
  instead there's only Love.

(Thank you Jan!)

I received another card from our next door neighbors from when we lived in Chesapeake.  I used to baby sit their boys.  They have sent us a Christmas card every year since we left Chesapeake back in 1999.  Last year, I received her card and realized that I hadn't told her about Chandler.  So, I had the difficult job of writing her a letter and telling her about what happened.  This year, in her card, she sent something.  She said she had enclosed some "memories".  There were several pictures of Chandler and Caleb with her 2 boys.  They were all so little.  Chandler and Caleb were only about 3 and 4 years old.  I just cried and cried looking at those pictures and remembering those times.  I was so touched that she sent them.  What a wonderful gift! 

I started to open the package that was on the porch.  It was from my family.  In it were some dragonflies for me to put on our Christmas tree.   There were some other special gifts.  My parents go to church with a lady who has also lost a son.  She has sent me several notes and things over the past year to encourage.  She's a little farther along in the grieving process so she takes what she has learned and helps others who are going through it.  She sent me a beautiful glass ornament with Chandler's name written on it.  In it is a feather and a poem attached that says: 

A feather from an angel 
is one we rarely see.
But this one is quite different
and special as can be.

The feather is a reminder
of God's unending love.
He sent a guardian angel
to watch you from above.

Every time you stumble,
every time you fall,
Thank God for His angels
who watch over us all.

She also sent a beautiful wind chime with an angel on top.  Chandler's name is written on the part that bangs against the chimes.  It also came with a poem:

Whispers from Heaven

When I left this world without you
I know it made you blue,
Your tears fell freely, I watched;
I know this is true.

While you were weeping,
Days after I passed away
While all was silent within me,
I saw you kneel to pray.

From this wonderful place called Heaven,
Where all my pain is gone,
I send a gentle breeze to whisper,
"My loved ones, please go on"

(Thank you Judy!  You are a blessing!)

I've put the new ornament on the tree as well as the dragonflies.  Also on our tree this year is a new ornament for each of us.  The other new ornaments we have this year are ones we have made.  We have Chandler's ornaments on their that people have given us as gifts.  I have his dove from one of his flower arrangements.  I have a strand of dragonfly lights on the tree as well and his hat that is topping our tree once again.  To me, it's the perfect tree!

Another interesting thing about this afternoon is that I was home alone.  All of these things came on a day where I could just enjoy them, think of Chandler and cry.  I cried and cried.  The timing was perfect.  There were no distractions.  I was just able to be in the midst of all of these special things by myself.  I feel like all of these things were "whispers from heaven" for me today.  I feel like I had Christmas today and the best thing is I feel like these gifts were from Chandler.  I needed this afternoon and I'm very thankful that God worked it all out this way.

I love you Chandler!