Just A Glimpse....

...of God's love.  I could write a book about God's love shown through the people of Tennessee.  I am amazed daily at the love and kindness that folks have shown to us from the medical staff here at St. Jude to the strangers who decorated the RMH for Christmas.  Amazing!  I/we have never been on the receiving end of such love and selfless giving. 

 
So, what's this Santa have to do with God's love?  A few days after arriving at the RMH, Emilie and I learned that there would be a sale of past RMH Christmas decor.  Having not much to do and not wanting to pass up a sale, we checked it out.  There wasn't a whole lot of good stuff, but we did bring a small tree and a Grinch back to our room to add a little "Christmas" to Room #7. Emilie and I chatted with an RMH volunteer who told us that she had a daughter named Emily, a granddaughter that had ALL, and a son who lived in the Bay Area.  She was also kind enough to fill us in on some of the good local restaurants.  The above Santa was standing on a table with some other stuff.  I showed him to Emilie and told her that he reminded me of a Santa that my parents displayed every Christmas on the fireplace hearth.  I shared with her my love of that Santa and how I would just sit and look at him when I was a kid. He was a gift that my parents received when I was 10 months old.  Every year, Santa would stand on the hearth and every year I would sit and look at him.  My mom displayed Santa every year, but after my dad passed away, Santa seemed to stay in his box during Christmas. We left the Christmas decor sale and went back to Room #7.  Later that day, Emilie and I went for a little walk and checked our mail.  We had a note in our mailbox that there was a package waiting for us at the front desk.  We were both so excited thinking that perhaps Nana had sent us a care package of some sort.  The volunteer at the desk, searched and searched for a package for Room #7 but came up empty-handed.  She then spoke with the other volunteer about the package that could not be found.  Together they searched and searched and finally found the "package".  The "package" was not a package at all, but rather the Santa that I was admiring at the Christmas decor sale.  Immediately tears flowed from my eyes as I held the Santa.  Emilie, being the funny kid that she is, started to giggle at me and ask me "why in the world are you crying over a silly Santa".  I told her that it wasn't the Santa, but it was a message of love from God that showed up as a small act of kindness from a volunteer.

Our new fat man in a red suit is holding a big sign that reads

***God loves you....ALOT***

Can you see it?