At church on Sunday, the visiting pastor asked people to share “God moments” during a time when people usually share prayer requests. I knew exactly what I would say if only I were brave enough.
My God moment had started at the end of September, when my anxiety was at an all time high. I received an unexpected package in the mail that contained a t-shirt and coffee. Coffee is one of my love languages — and the t-shirt, soft and gray, with a rabbit and the rhythm of a beating heart, was perfect. I pressed it against my cheek and thought of the dear friend from Indiana who had sent it.
St. Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. … Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.”
In that moment, my far-away friend was Christ to me, soothing my anxieties and reminding me that I was loved.
A few days later, another Indiana friend unexpectedly pressed a little package into my hand — a tiny clay rabbit she had made for me. Rabbits are another my love languages.
In the weeks that followed, as I dealt with a lot of interrupted sleep because of my father, my husband being quite ill with what we now know to be Lyme’s Disease, and my youngest daughter suffering a concussion, other packages showed up at my house.
A hand-crocheted hat and scarf.
A mug to replace one I broke years before and never thought I would hold another like it.
A FreeWrite — a portable smart typewriter that I had off-and-on looked at wistfully for a couple of years.
The packages came from Alabama, Florida, and Michigan.
On a day when I was feeling overwhelmed, one would arrive.
I sat one morning drinking good coffee from my new mug, feeling very rich indeed, and a story came flooding back to me. It was a Dr. Purple story that I stumbled across when I was researching this 19th century physician from the village of Greene.
In 1826, Dr. Purple has acted as clerk for a trial in the village of Bainbridge, a nearby town. Joseph Smith (yes, that Joseph Smith) was on trial. He claimed to have a stone that could reveal to him where treasure was buried. For a fee, he would tell the landowner where to dig. When the man started digging, the treasure would recede and never be actually found. The landowner would be disappointed. Until, of course, Joseph Smith with his seer stone claimed to have found the treasure again in a different spot on his land. For a fee, he would tell the landowner where to dig.
I thought about the disappointment of that treasure that could never be grasped — and the depth of the treasure I held in my hand in the form of a mug sent by the generosity of a friend.
All that ran through my head when the pastor asked for a God moment — I had had a whole month of God moments, and then some.
The riches we have in Christ are riches indeed.
Sometimes they come in the form of rabbits and hats and typewriters.
And sometimes it’s a mug full of coffee.
Yes, definitely coffee.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Wonderfully said. Given all of that going on in your life, the stress would be understandable.
How can we not believe when things like this happen. Thanks for sharing your story.
Those are wonderfully thoughtful gifts Sally very sweet to be thought of when you need it most! I especially like your quote from St Teresa. I never thought like that but one day, while visiting a young girl that’s bedridden in our local senior center, wondering it was important for me to be there, I began to have a strong feeling that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Because Christ can’t be there, He needed me to be. I go every week and it’s almost 3 years and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am grateful to have an opportunity to be there and show my gratitude for everything I’ve been blessed with. I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy that coffee – I know I couldn’t function without my cup ‘o java in the morning! Thanks for a wonderful post Sally!