That is what happened to Rodney and Riley and me. We are here in Michigan with all of Rodney's immediate family on a little reunion. It is great having us all be here together as that hasn't happened in a while. But yesterday, Rodney and I decided, would be a good day to set off on our own, to do a little sight seeing and shopping.
It was a beautiful day! We had a wonderful time being together. Riley made out like a bandit because we found an amazing music store. You can imagine how his face lit up when we first walked in. We thought that this had to be the highlight of the day but we changed our mind a little later.
There is a huge Christmas store in the area that we thought we might go to to get a head start on holiday shopping. We accidentally drove passed the East entrance so we headed to the West one. As we were walking in, a receptionist handed us a map to the store. (The building is quite large). As we took it you could see her eyes light up as she looked at Riley. She could hardly hold herself back as she started talking to him.
Now anybody that knows Riley knows that he just doesn't talk to strangers, and he held true to form this time. She didn't seem to mind. You could tell that she just wanted to hug him. He smiled at her and then he and Daddy walked on into the store. She put her hand on my arm and said she'd like to tell me a story.
Here is what she told me.......
"I had a younger brother with Down syndrome. He was the light of my mother's life". I believe she called him Ollie. "We lost him to pneumonia a while back. While he was in the ICU my mother, sister and I were standing around his bed watching his monitor. As the rhythm became slower and slower a beautiful woman, that almost glowed, came into the room. She headed straight to his bed and put her hands on his feet. As she stood there she said, "You are going to be OK now, Ollie"! As she spoke Ollie took his last breath and she disappeared". As this woman was telling me this story she was smiling so big. She continued. "God gave us a gift that night. The gift of realizing that Ollie was happy and healthy now and that he was with our Lord. We knew that we had nothing to fear for him, anymore"
As I stood there crying like a baby she gave me a hug and said. " I lost my mother shortly after that but you know, I have peace about that too. I think God knew that she felt she needed to be there to take care of Ollie". She then said, "I hope you understand the peace and hope that God can give you too"!
As she said that this verse came to mind.....
Romans 15:13
English Standard Version (ESV)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope
I assured her that I totally did understand that peace. I couldn't thank her enough for the gift of her story. The story that gave assurance of an eternal life that is filled with peace and hope for all.
God is so good at putting everyone where they need to be, all the time. He knew that this woman needed to see our son and tell her sweet, sweet story. He also knew how much hearing it would mean to me, and then, Rodney as I repeated it!!
I hope you find a gentle hope with this wonderful story too!!!!!
Blessings!!
