Thursday, July 26, 2018

Dear God,

It has been four years since Gabrielle has been here to visit us.  Every year she begged her parents to let her come but the answer was no for many reasons.  So what joy filled our hearts as we returned to our Maine home weary after just a few hours of sleep.  After a plane ride, a shuttle ride and a car ride, we entered our home, ate lunch and then slept for five hours.  We rose up, talked for a short time, ate dinner and went back to bed, she in the rose room and me in the master bedroom.  We slept all night long.

This morning as I crawled out of bed to sit with my circle of friends in my devotional reading, I reveled in your goodness, giving thanks for the company of my 18-year-old granddaughter.  I thought of the first time I saw her wailing in her bassinet following her birth.  My daughter, her mother, was bleeding badly and the doctor asked us to move away so they could take care of her.  So I moved to my new granddaughter to soothe her.  I stood by Gabrielle in her first bed and sang over and over again, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  You make me happy when skies are gray.  You'll never know dear how much I love you.  Please don't take my sunshine away."  I offered her my pinkie and she sucked away on her very first pacifier.  When they were able to get Jill stabilized, Gabrielle quieted down, the mother-daughter connection deeply felt from the beginning.  This morning I gave thanks.

Bless you,
O God,
for all
your gifts.
Thank you
for Jill
and Gabrielle
and for
all the connections
that sustain
and delight us.
All praise
to you,
Loving Father.

Always, Andrea