The Bride
September 2010
After a conference I spoke at, a pastor’s wife said, “Tara, God wants me to give you this.” Debbie placed a beautiful beaded necklace around my neck. Humbled by her gesture, I did not know what to do. As I thanked her, she grabbed my hand and pulled me to our dorm quarters. She rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out a second necklace. She explained that a dear friend makes necklaces from scraps of old pieces of jewelry and that she gave this to her. The silver necklace held a heart with little crystals embedded in the scroll design with various short chains and watchbands for the necklace chain. To my surprise she said, “Tara, God wants me to give this to you, too!” I tried to stop her, but she insisted. I asked her, “Do you have the gift of giving or something?” She laughed and said, “No!”
I felt very uncomfortable receiving two necklaces. I asked God, “What do I do?” I knew I could not keep the second necklace, but did not know how to handle it with grace. A few days later, I awoke remembering a fun bracelet I have with a little cross dangling that has an antique feel. I knew that I must re-gift her necklace back to her. I jumped out of bed and wrapped it to ship. It then sat on my dining room table from April until I mailed it, June 8.
On June 31, Debbie was enduring a dark night of the soul. She felt so unloved by those in her world. On top of that, Debbie’s house was under construction, nothing was where it should be. Around midnight as she walked past a table piled with pillows she saw a little box corner sticking out. Curiosity caused her to pick it up. It was then that she noticed the return address was mine. She remembered that the day before while on Facebook, she saw a picture of her wearing the second necklace and she prayed, “LORD, I wish Tara would feel led to send me this necklace back.” As she stared at the box, she knew it held the necklace. She began to weep at how the LORD answered her prayer long before she ever prayed it. In awe, she just stared at the box, but then she noticed I had written her street address wrong and her zip was wrong, too. She stood amazed at the LORD’s overflowing love. He loves her! He knew what she needed on that night. Normally, Debbie gets the mail, but on the day it arrived, her husband got it and forgot to tell her.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
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