A Gift From Heaven? ~ Mother’s Day 2010

For Mother’s Day, my niece sent me an adorable key chain with a turtle on it. She knew how Jacob loved turtles, especially when he was younger.  His passion for turtles was known by many in our community, especially the year he won his school’s oratorical contest after giving a speech on sea turtles.  In fact, Bob Schieffer, the CBS Chief Washington News Correspondent and moderator of “Face the Nation,” spoke at that event back in the spring of 1999 and Jacob’s speech was the only one he mentioned in his closing remarks.  He said something along the lines of, “If only we all could have the kind of passion that young man has for sea turtles…”  Mr. Schieffer and his wife had (and maybe still have) a vacation home on nearby Sea Island which was part of why we had the honor of hearing him speak at the event.

One year, while he was in elementary school, we bought him a huge stuffed animal at SeaWorld.  It was a loggerhead sea turtle that Jacob affectionately named Logger.  He literally used Logger as his pillow until the day he died.  He didn’t take it off to college with him, but it was still on his bed at home, so his last night on this earth, he slept with his head on that “pillow.”

Jacob's Logger

The emotional attachment to Logger had ended years earlier for Jacob, but it was so comfortable for him that he just kept using it.  The funny thing is his sister Raleigh took Logger to college with her.  Logger had a strong connection to Jacob for her so he was given a special spot on her bed all year long and is now back home for the summer along with Raleigh.

When my niece sent the key chain with the turtle, she included a note that said, “A special gift from me to you! Happy Mother’s Day with love always from your beloved son, Jacob J Nyenhuis.” I thought that was very thoughtful. Before I opened the package, my niece sent me a text message sayinig there was a story that went with this gift. After I opened it, I figured the story was that she decided to send me a gift on behalf of Jacob as a sweet way to bless me and remember him.

Last Friday, my niece and I talked for the first time since Mother’s Day. She told me the REAL story. Here it is:

She was sleeping and had a dream. Her dog named Angel was in the dream. Angel was able to speak, but the voice was clearly Jacob’s. According to my niece, there was no confusing that voice at all. Jacob said, “You know that turtle key chain you bought when you were in Lake Geneva? I want you to give that to my mom for Mother’s Day so that she will know that I am with her on that day. I want you to include a note with it and this is what I want it to say, ‘A special gift from me to you! Happy Mother’s Day with love from your beloved son, Jacob J Nyenhuis.’”

My niece wanted to argue with him about it because she really loved the keychain, but she knew Jacob wanted her to give it to me as a gift. My niece woke up crying and sitting straight up in bed. She’s never had a dream like that in her life. She’s 31 years old. The first thing she did once she had a chance to wake up and gather her thoughts was run and grab a pen and paper to write down what Jacob told her to put in the note.

As my mind began to comprehend what my niece just told me, one amazing revelation after another unfolded.  It was as though pieces of a mysterious puzzle were being put together.  There are so many amazing facets to this story, but it would be too confusing to explain them all.

Here’s just one: During Jacob’s junior year of high school I began writing a book that I confidently believe God wanted me to write. The story is about a girl and her golden retriever named Angel. (To be honest, I’m not even sure if my niece had her dog Angel at the time I began writing the story in the fall of 2004, but I certainly didn’t get the story idea or the name from her dog.)  In the story, Angel is able to speak to the girl because she is a real angel from Heaven in the form of a dog that delivers messages from Heaven.

Jacob loved that I was writing this story. He would even ask me about it now and then.  He knew what the story was about, but I never let him read it.  When his senior year began, I had already written over 100 pages, but I decided to set the book aside.  I didn’t want to get wrapped up in my writing during Jacob’s last year at home. My desire was to focus on him, and he knew that because I told him.  After he left for college, I brought the story out again but hadn’t yet begun writing when Jacob’s accident happened.

Ten days after the accident, God began pouring into me more ideas for the story.  He clearly told me the story needed to change. The girl in the story (Katie) has an older brother named Matthew.   I sensed God saying that Katie’s brother now needed to die in the story and that God would comfort her in part through Angel. Many more details were given to me but I had no way to write them down they were coming so fast.  Even so, I still remember many of them to this day.

When I sat back and thought more about it, I became disgusted and upset with myself for thinking that God was talking to me about my book. After all, my son had just died. Why the heck was I focused on my book?

The shame I felt for focusing on my book in those first days after the accident has kept me from writing even one word of the story since Jacob’s death.  Today, however, I am wondering if God and Jacob were giving me a hint through a dream and a very personal Mother’s Day gift to begin writing the story again.  I’m going to be praying about this to see what direction to take.  The timing sure doesn’t seem the best, but that doesn’t matter when God is in charge.  In the meantime, I’m savoring the sweet gift from my son in Heaven.

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