To the unnamed saint in the grocery store...

 I was in the check out line at the grocery store today when the woman behind me struck up a conversation. Eyeing my full cart and the sheer quantity of chicken nuggets I was placing on the conveyor belt, she simply asked if I had kids at home. As a matter of fact, yes, three teens, they eat a lot. We kept talking as I loaded things back into my cart, when all of a sudden, she stretched out her hand with a crisp, twenty dollar bill in it. 

She just said, "I want you to have this." 

I just stood in shock for a moment, mentally going through all the files in my memory. I know I was teasing about three hungry teens, but we'll be okay.

At first, I refused. A few times actually, but she insisted and the look on her face said I should just politely accept. It wasn't something that has ever happened to me before, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond without any context.

She continued speaking...she has two of her own, but they are far away and she can't take them out for ice cream, so she wanted me to take mine out instead, for her. 

Here's where I had to really pause and collect my thoughts. 

I received a text yesterday alerting me that my grandmother was put on comfort care and was fading fast. I had been praying for her soul yesterday. I live very far away from her, so there was nothing more that could be done. 

Our relationship was one that I never fully understood. I still had lingering questions yesterday, as she lay between this life and the next. This morning, I found out that she passed during the night, and now, here stood a woman offering me twenty dollars to take my own children for ice cream, because she couldn't treat her own grand kids in person. 

My grandmother would have done the very same thing. She was always giving and seeking to bless others, a wonderful desire. 

And the strange thing is, this isn't the first time something this oddly specific has happened after someone has passed away. 

I know the Communion of the Saints can be a difficult topic for some people to wrap their heads around. When we define the words of our faith differently among different denominations, it can cause deep misunderstandings and suspicion of what others may mean when they talk to the saints in heaven and others don't see things the same way. Both desire to please God, we just haven't fully uncovered the full meaning of everything yet. 

People can love each other dearly and temporarily be worlds apart over simple things, but here's what that teaching means to me personally, the way I have seen it lived out countless times in my own life and that of others. 

I prayed for my grandmother as she prepared for physical death. Now, she prays for me, in eternal life. We're both here to help each other. It's really that simple. She is not suddenly cut off from us and the stories and love that bind us together for eternity, because she lives and we live. The story doesn't end. The only difference is that she can now see everything beyond the veil that still covers our earthly eyes. On earth, we still see with the eyes of faith, and she sees with the eyes that now behold. We just have a different vantage point in the same family story, but the tie that binds us, the love of Jesus, never fails and never ends. 

Thank you, Grandma. I love you, too.

Peace be with you.