Well, you never know what will cross your path on a given day!  Stay with me, here.

As I sometimes do, I took an early morning walk on the street by my house, accompanied by my trusty “trash picker-upper” (there should be a more dignified name for those things!) and a trash bag.  After retrieving a few of the usual items, my eyes fell onto something a little more intriguing.  I fetched it with my picker and had almost dropped it into the collection of whatevers, when I decided to examine it a little more closely.  Most likely, it is the remains of a birthday party and it got loose from the other party debris, I mused to myself. But, upon careful examination, I realized it actually was a small typed (with water proof ink, obviously) note attached to a white ribbon with fragments of a balloon, once filled with helium, no doubt.  All that remained of the balloon was the part where it was tightly secured to the curly ribbon, and an inch or so beyond that.

Well, “Looky here,” I said to myself!  The note was from a young man in Frankfort, Kentucky!  He said, “My name is Clay E.  I released this note on November 11, 2010.  If you find my note, please write to me and tell me your name and where you found my balloon.  Thank you.”

Why, I never expected to find something like that among the beer and soda cans, fast food wrappers and beverage cups.  But there it was, kind of in the yard of a residence on my street, and yet almost in the street; actually, it was on private property, but only slightly.  (I recently completed a book on Rationalization in case any of you need help in that area.)  Obviously, it had not yet reached its intended recipient, right? All forlorn looking, it appeared to have been languishing there quite some time and I just decided to claim it as my very own, as if I were the addressee.  I quickly invoked the “finders keepers” rule and hastened home with it to share this good news with Bill.

Once back home with my special treasure, aka message on the ground (doesn’t have to be in a bottle, does it?), I immediately wrote to that young man, Clay, at his school and told him who I was and where I lived and how far it was to Lancaster, SC from Frankfort, KY, and on and on and on.  The on and on and on indicates that I did mention that I was a grandmother and that I loved my grandchildren. J By my calculation, it took 18 days for the winds to carry that balloon and note all the way from Frankfort, Kentucky to Lancaster, South Carolina!  Amazing!

In my note I wished Clay a Merry Christmas and told him I hoped he knew Jesus and if he didn’t then the enclosed sheet would tell him exactly how to do that.  Oops, I totally forgot that it isn’t proper to mention that sort of thing in school nowadays! Heaven forbid!  Too late now.  Isn’t there something that says to ask forgiveness is better than to ask permission?  Works for me.

So, what’s the lesson here?  Keep your eyes open and don’t be too quick to cast off or ignore possible gems that God has placed in your path.  Maybe they are in the form of a new friend, a new opportunity, a new way to bless someone, to lift their burden, or just to say I love you and you are on my heart today.  They’re lurking everywhere!  Just like the balloon on the ribbon, clinging to each other, and finally resting near my house after a long journey.  Perhaps these have been placed there by Someone, just waiting for the right someone to discover the hidden secret that might be inside!

As I write this, it is almost December.  Tomorrow it will be!  I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas Season and hope that it is full of love, joy and peace.  God bless you all!  Oh, I'll let you know what I hear from Clay!