Bob Goff said, “God doesn’t pass us notes, He gives us each other.” I replied, “I sure hope to be a love letter for people and not hate mail.”
It made me ponder the question, “What kind of letter am I writing to this world with my actions?”
I was recently at the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions and remembered another one we needed refilled, so I stepped over to the “consultation” side. An extremely frail, elderly woman was speaking with the pharmacist, and when she was finished, she turned and looked at me and said, “Honey, I’m not ill. I don’t want you to think I’m ill, standing here.” I smiled and told her I wasn’t ill, either, unless you counted, “ill in the head at times.” This made her laugh and then she said, “Oh, I’ve been ill in the head many times. My husband was always the cause of it, too!” It was my turn to laugh and I said, “Yes ma’am, they can push our buttons, can’t they?” She smiled and nodded, then said, “They sure can. But what I wouldn’t give to have my husband back to make me ill. I miss him so.”
I reached for her shoulder and rubbed it and said, “I’m so sorry. I’m sure you do.” She continued, “But I’ll see him again.”
This made my heart smile. I said, “I’m sure he is waiting with Jesus for your arrival to greet you with a hug!” She stood up even straighter and said, “Oh yes, I’m sure he is. I can picture him at a table with flowers for me. He always brought me flowers and made sure we had flowers on our table.”
I do not know this woman, but the image she painted with her words was glorious. When I got home, I decided to order flowers for Michala. Sometimes we send Michala flowers if she has had a particularly bad day or week. Sometimes we send her flowers for special occasions or to congratulate her on a milestone. Michala loves flowers like I do, so any chance we get we try to send flowers. Michala shared a photo of the flowers and said, “Moment of appreciation for my parents. They know flowers are my love language.”
As I read Michala’s words, I was reminded again of what Bob Goff said. “God doesn’t pass us notes, He gives us each other.”
Michala and I lived through an awful lot of dark, ugly, horrible days and nights. I cannot fathom getting through them without her. During those years, God didn’t pass me a note. He gave me Michala. When it just hurt too much to breathe, my precious Michala was the only image I needed.
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” - 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NIV)
God doesn’t pass us notes, He gives us each other. Are we letters of love to one another or more like hate mail? Are we a sweet fragrance of God’s goodness, or do we smell rotten and bitter? The world right now is watching us. They need the hope we have shared with them. Let’s be a sweet fragrance of God’s goodness and His hope during this time of uncertainty.