Butterflies & Hummingbirds

Like I usually do, I walked out to my Jim's grave before we left. I do this before we leave on trips. Today is unique. We are going to bury Jim's dad. 

As I bent down and rubbed my hand across the praying hands on top of the bench, I closed my eyes. I thanked God for keeping Dad Scott here long after my Jim was gone. For waiting till my oldest was almost 20 and the other boys were in high school. I thanked God for Dad's example of enduring faith and trust in the Lord. 

I looked at the details of Jim's memorial stone bench. I rubbed my hands across the praying hands again and closed my eyes. It comes. The feeling like my Jim is very close to me. Like he is standing behind me inside my personal radar, but not close enough to touch. I do not believe in ghost or the dead coming to visit. I do believe that Jim is with the Lord. He is in Christ. And I know how tender & near the Lord is to those who are grieving. So it makes sense to me to feel Jim close. 

I open my eyes. The feeling fades. I close them again & feel him near. Makes sense. Everything we see is temporal. What we cannot see is eternal. I feel surrounded by God's grace. Wrapped up like with a soft blanket from the dryer. 

Tjen it is time to walk away from the grave. A butterfly flitts across my path. I turn to watch it. It circles around to a tree and is met by a hummingbird. They do a strange dance in flight for a few seconds. Then the hummingbird flies away and the butterflies lands in the tree. What a precious moment to observe!