Before she left, I was trying to finish a song that I had written especially for her, a song to inspire and encourage her (more about the song later). This summer has been a hard one for getting any musical projects done, but Miracle #1 was getting it finished enough that I could let her listen to it before we left. We just sat and cried through the whole thing. It was an experience I will treasure forever. What a blessing that was!
After we enjoyed a bowl of mint-and-chip homemade ice cream (Jessica’s favorite flavor), I took a final picture of all my kids together. They are all so beautiful. I just love them so much! (There’s actually seven miracles and blessings right there! But those aren’t the ones I was counting…)
Before we went on our way, we stopped at Deseret Book to buy a journal and a new cook book (the one we had bought previously for Jessica had become the “family” cook book and needed to be replaced!) It was a miracle when I found that there was a better version for her (cooking for 2 people) there at the bookstore. That was the kind of book I had originally been looking for, and she wanted that one even more than the other one (which we’ll get to keep!) (Miracle #2)
When we got to the dorm, someone was just pulling out of a close parking space. Having been to BYU campus before, I knew that was a blessing, but then to find out that others had had to drive around for 5-10 minutes just to get one a lot farther away, made me count it as another miracle. It helped a ton for unloading all of her boxes. (Miracle #3)
After everything was unloaded, we headed to the big grocery store. I met a lady there who was riding in a wheel chair shopping cart. She was older and probably missing all her teeth. I was in her way and she asked me to move. I did so, and then she started telling me about how she couldn’t move very fast. She said if there was some kind of emergency, she would have to try and get out to the street and hope that somebody saw her. I felt bad for her and told her I was sorry. I tried to be polite but I was anxious to leave.
For some reason, she didn’t want to stop talking to me. She began telling me about her difficult life and some of the interesting circumstances that many of her family members were in. For some reason I felt drawn to her, and didn’t want to be rude.
I encouraged Jessica to continue shopping without me as I listened to her go on and on. She was an interesting lady who spoke to me about visions she’d had and of her hopes to reach the Celestial kingdom someday. Finally she told me, “I want you to look into my eyes.” It was a little strange, but I did it. Her eyes were beautiful and as I looked into them, I forgot about her appearance and almost felt like I was looking into her soul. She was beautiful. I could feel something. Something good emanating from her.
“Did you feel that?” She asked.
“Yes.” I told her, though I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. She told me that she had been given a gift. God had given her the ability to share His love through her eyes. “What you were feeling was LITERALLY God’s love”.
I didn’t quite know what to think about that, but I definitely had felt something- good. My eyes were filled with tears as I gave her a hug and thanked her. Real or not, it was a blessing to me. Miracle #4.
After I got home from dropping off Jessica, I didn’t feel very energetic or any kind of desire to do anything. My kitchen was a disaster, and I was feeling kind of melancholy. What was Jessica’s meal job? No one would be assigned. I decided it was something I could do. I began with the floor, but as I put myself into my work, I found myself cleaning off counters, washing the stove, and even cleaning out the pantry! I cleared out two whole shelves of unwanted empty cereal boxes and other paraphernalia.
While I was finishing up the dishes, my husband walked in with one of his friends from church. They had just gotten back from shopping for the Ward Camp Out, and needed to unload all the items they had just bought. Normally, I would have been mortified to have someone come unannounced into my kitchen, especially to use my counter space, but because I had spent the previous hour in the kitchen, everything looked really nice, and I even had space in the kitchen for all the pantry items they had just bought. It truly was a miracle and a blessing.
So many miracles and blessings today. It’s helped me get through this difficult but wonderful day! =) Love you Jessica!