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past. "Jayne, didn't you hear me?"
    "What?" Her mother looked over her shoulder. "Oh, sorry." She smiled, but her eyes didn't really look happy. "Just looking for something in the other room."
    "Oh. Okay." Grandma Peggy pushed her hair out of her eyes. She motioned to the bedroom. "We're still reading if you want to join us."
    Her mother shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'll put some pasta on for dinner."
    Mary watched her mother turn and continue into the kitchen. Then Grandma Peggy shut the door and looked at her.
    Mary felt scared about what her mother would do next. "Is Mommy mad?"
    Grandma Peggy crossed the room and sat beside her on the bed. "No, baby, Mommy's not mad. No one is." She took Mary's hand and ran her thumb along the top of it. "It's good that you told Grandma how you feel."
    Mary nodded, but she was distracted. She stood and wandered back to the bookcase. Then, from behind her, she heard her grandma take a loud breath. What happened next was something that had stayed with Mary every day since then.
    In a quiet, almost desperate voice, her grandmother began to pray. "Please, God, be with my Mary. I know Your grace is sufficient for me, for her, for all of us. But I believe with everything I am that You have good plans for my Mary. Keep her here so she can grow and learn and become everything You want for her. She's safe here, God. Please . . ."
    When she was done praying, Grandma Peggy came to her and ran her fingers through her little-girl hair. "I love you, Mary."
    Mary still felt scared. But she looked away from the books at her grandma's eyes.'"I love you too." She turned all the way around. "Were you talking to God?"
    "Yes." Her grandma sighed. "Sometimes I can feel Him holding me, hugging me."
    "Even when you can't see Him?" Mary was amazed.
    "Yes. And something else." She smiled. "Sometimes I can hear Him talking back to me. Know what I heard Him say today?"
    A warm happy feeling rose in Mary's heart. "What, Grandma?"
    "I heard Him say that you, sweet child, are going to bring glory to Him. He has a plan for you, Mary. No matter what happens, He has a plan."
    The words wrapped their arms around Mary and gave her a hope she'd never known. Hope and security. "Really?"
    Her grandma nodded and looked deep into her eyes. "Even when I'm not there to tell you, Mary, never give up. God is with you. Don't forget that."
    Mary had known in that moment that she never would forget it. She would remember her grandma's words if she lived to be one hundred.
    Later that night, after they had a quiet dinner, after her mother and grandmother whispered some words that convinced Mary there was trouble, and after she was already in her pretty pink bed, her grandma came to her again. In her hand she had a small red-beaded purse. It wasn't any bigger than a deck of cards, but right away Mary knew. This purse was very, very special.
    Grandma Peggy held it out to Mary. "My grandma gave this to me when I was a little girl." She pressed it into Mary's hands. "Now I'm giving it to you."
    A feeling like the wonder of a rainbow filled Mary's heart. She ran her fingers over the beads, her mouth open. "Thank you, Grandma."
    "Look inside." Grandma Peggy opened the little buttons at the top of the purse. Then she carefully pulled a slip of paper from inside. It was covered with words.
    Mary felt a moment of embarrassment. She was ten and she couldn't read. She swallowed. "Could you please tell me what it says?"
    "Of course." Grandma Peggy's voice was kind. She took the paper and opened it. "It's a Bible verse. '1 know the plans 1 have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" She paused. "It's from the book of Jeremiah."
    Mary wasn't sure what it was about those words, but they made her feel the way she'd felt earlier when Grandma had been praying for her. Every word felt sure and true. First her grandma had told her, and now the Bible said it. In that slice of time