Loveletters (requested by Michelle Jackson)

Are there times when God seems so far away you wonder if He were not just a figment of your imagination?

It is like having a childhood neighbor who was your very best friend. But she moved to Australia. At first, you would write to each other as fast as the mails allowed. This was before e-mail. Then you wrote to each other every other month. As time passed, you sent cards on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, Valentines... It eventually dwindled to once a
year, then every other year and now it has become so sporadic you catch yourself thinking, "Was she just a figment of my imagination?"

When my relationship with God comes to that, I say to Him, "Lord, I need a loveletter from You."

Once, He said, "And what might you consider a loveletter from Me?"

I said, "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream."

That afternoon, my daughter, Annie dropped by apropos of nothing bringing TWO pints of, yes, Coffee Heath Bar crunch ice cream!


I was recounting this to my friend, Gloria, who said, "He might send you loveletters but not me."

I countered, "Do you check your mailbox?"

"What do you mean?"

"God could be sending a loveletter every hour on the hour. But if you don't check your mailbox, you wouldn't know that, would you?"

Eventually, I made this an assignment in our Religion classes. The students were to note down the loveletters God sent them. A loveletter was anything that happened to them that made them feel loved by God. A cloudless blue sky, a bird on the wing, a ride from a friend while I was waiting at a bus stop - these were all loveletters from God for me. I wanted my students to
get in the habit of finding God everywhere. They learned to find Him in their favorite supper awaiting them at home, a game victory, a phone call from someone they hadn't heard from in a while, a grade higher than they expected. The more loveletters they found, the more they found.

One day, one of the girls said, "I haven't gotten a loveletter from God and I've been looking."

"Keep looking. He always sends one."

The day was almost over - "I still haven't gotten one!" she moaned.

She was about four feet from me. I asked her, "Can you see me?"

She said, "Yes, of course."

"Come here," I said as I beckoned her over and she approached.

"That's two letters, Baby: You are not blind; you can see. You are not paralyzed, you can walk."

And those days when even I can't find a loveletter, I tell God it is my turn to send Him one by being gracious about not getting one from Him. Sending loveletters is a two-way street so I send Him loveletters too even if He knows I am not a figment of His imagination!