Postcards from Heaven

While I was "antiquing" with my wonderful Minnesota girlies (Lori & Greyley), it gave me a chance to look through some wonderful old postcards. Not only were there STACKS of them available (I'm talking hundreds in a couple different antique malls), there were some REALLY OLD ones! Not only were the post dates (1909, 1914, and more) fun to look at, but the one cent stamps were interesting too!

Some of the postcards were from places... cities, towns... just like the most common ones we send out today from vacation spots to let those we know back home how much fun we are having! (You know, all the 'bragging' and sympathy remarks... "Wish you were here!" LOL)

Some were actual Christmas Cards... so beautifully illustrated.



I remember years ago looking at pictures of my Grandfather's family put on postcards. Oh, how lovely they are! (You know the ones, where everyone is dressed in their Sunday best and NEVER smiled! right? :D)

So, to all the "Post Card Lovers" out there, let's share something today... a little bit of encouraging, hope, faith and love. Get you out some cards, postcards, stationery, whatever you have... and send out some 'connections' to someone today! Reconnect.

I have been meditating on the feeling of self-pity. You know the best way to 'kick the blues'? Just reach out to someone else... when you are sending all that kindness, your self-pity will disappear.

Jesus sends out love letters to us... old ones (in his WORD), constant ones (the preaching of his WORD) and the NOW ones..... when someone uses their hands and hearts like HIS! I love when I feel his touch... through someone sending me some "Postcards from Heaven".

Keeping your options open

The more 'days' I see, the more amazed I am! God just "out-does himself" with each new piece of knowledge that I acquire. His wisdom and ways are truly past finding out!

I look at the many types of animals and vegetation, the beauty of the spectrum... the beautiful rainbow peeking through a rainy sky and I am just 'awed' by the complexity and simplicity of our Savior. He just goes above and beyond in everything he does! No wonder we are such complex creatures! In HIS image for sure!!!

How many different types of birds are there? REALLY! Just trying to figure that one out is mind-boggling!


When I met up with some of my friends this past summer for lunch (enjoying some good fish at Coleman's in Wheeling) we all had on reading glasses! I shouldn't be surprised since we are 'women of a certain age'.... and 'no, do not ask...because we will not tell'. I'll just say that we are all within about four years of each other!!! I just have to report that I am on the "younger end of that graph!" :)


There we were, Suzie (who now lives in Texas with her four children and their families!), Me (living in Grantsville, WV), Teresa Glover (living in the Weirton, WV) and Michele Forsythe (my sister-in-law who lives in Wheeling, WV).

We had such fun laughing and catching up!


As we all had out glasses laying on the table, it was the opportune moment to get the picture I took above. Each of us had such different tastes in colors and design.

Take Michele, pictured above... she "color coordinates" her glasses with her attire. I so love that! You will find her wearing striped, polka-dotted or brightly colored glasses to accent her wardrobe.

This just brings to mind all the ways that God opens up his pot of "endless opportunities" to us. He has so many options for us to enjoy in this life! Some will choose solids, others stripes and others may select a rainbow of colors!

We follow HIS his path and leading, but HE allows us joy along the way. Don't forget to look for it! What makes you laugh? A child at play? What gives you satisfaction? Calling a shut-in or visiting an elder? What makes you smile? Doing something extra special for those you love? Reaching out with his love with your hands.... many possibilities...

God's loving attributes can be obtained in many ways.... keep your options open!

SHHHH...a

I remember the first time I saw the sign on her bedroom door. Grandma Thel (my Great-Step-Grandma Thelma Virden) had it hanging in her bedroom at Dad and Nan's house. She made no excuses for praying... anytime, all the time.

It was easy to give a soft chuckle when Grandma Thel would start praying in the middle of a TV show that got too violent... and you would be moved when you heard her say each of her family's name in prayer before she fell asleep at night.

To know her was to love her. She was one of those kind-hearted people who ws "easy to love".

When she went to be with Jesus, the family asked me if I would like one of her little treasures... of course, she had collected little gifts and knick-knacks from everyone and everywhere! I remember asking them for her little "Shhhh, I'm talking to God..." sign. To me it symbolized her to a "T".

Quiet times with Jesus. What do you receive in those "secret moments"? Let me tell you, they are priceless lessons. You can glean happiness, strength and receive the faith to move spiritual mountains in just a few moments 'in his presence'.

And those quiet answers, you gently send my way
Are just as great a miracle that comes in mighty ways
You don't have to move the Earth, to let me know that you're still there
Just send a quiet answer to my prayer....
[Song I heard Kelly Nelon Thompson sing MANY years ago, sorry, I do not know the authors name!]

The Word tells us:

⁵And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

⁶But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

⁷But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (Matthew 6:5-7, King James Version)

Many things will change in life... friends come and go, family members go home to be with Jesus, your children grow up and venture on, but one fact is constant...

You can find HIM still where he has always been.... in that secret place that you and HE share alone. I hope you find your "SHHHH" place and find lots of peace and comfort there...

Preparing a Place

Watching, waiting and anticipating....

When I am expecting company, I 'wear out the carpet'! Checking the driveway again and again. What time did they say they would arrive? Wonder if they are close? Will they get here soon? Is all ready for their arrival?

I think of the passage of scripture that Jesus gives us, telling us of his "preparation for our coming" to his house.... our home in Heaven...

¹Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ²In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3, King James Version)

As God is preparing a place for us, shouldn't we be preparing a place for him? A place in our heart, our lives, our jobs, our hopes, our dreams? Is he a part of everything?

Every time I start to "prepare the house for company" I get into my "hospitality" drill. What do they like to eat? Are they allergic to anything? Are they diabetic (since we have so many in our friends and family circle!)? What are their favorite hobbies and interests? Are they like to drink coffee, tea or cappuccino?

As I was getting my guest bedroom ready for some company that we are expecting this weekend (Yeah L&G!), I was in the "wash the sheets" mode. You know the drill. Making sure no "dust bunnies" were in the corners, dusting, taking out extra "items" that get stored in that room (how DARE I call any of these articles JUNK!).

The bed is old (Yes, Suz, that is the set Mom bought off of you and Jr after the fire!), the walls are green (excuse me, they are BRIGHT LIME GREEN... the last color we painted them before Shelly left for college!) and the carpet is WAY beyond time for replacement... but it is part of our home. Our place of refuge and rest.



While I was "preparing" the room, I thought of another lady in the Bible who prepared a place for a prophet to stay....

⁹And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. ¹⁰Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. ¹¹And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned
into the chamber, and lay there. (2 Kings 4:9-11, King James Version)



How fun it is to know that you are "giving your best" to allow someone else to be comfortable. I'm sure the little lady shared that sentiment. A bed, table, stool and candlestick. Just because she may not have had "new items" did not keep her from providing them.

In my house there is old, new, borrowed (and blue! No, this is not a wedding, I just love that saying!).... I have very ECLECTIC tastes! I LOVE antiques. I have the wonderful old items from my family (the hand-me-downs), newer collections, comfortable pieces and 'deer-heads hung on the wall' in homage to my dear Hunter Husband! But you know what? Aren't we all that way? Many parts of our life are there for sentimental and emotional values instead of prideful ones.

So, with my new pillows and worn out carpet, would I be like the lady in the Bible to share what I have? Or would I say, 'mine is not good enough'....

Our lives should be given wholly to God ... open to share. Not be ridden with hidden parts for shame or embarrassment. I'm sure the prophet was so thankful for the space provided. So thankful for the open heart that provided this 'resting place' for him.

I think of Heaven. I think of the 'resting place' that God is preparing for us. I would follow him there even if there were no streets of gold or walls of jasper... no mansions, no gates of pearl. That he wants to give me all this, it just fine.... but I just want to see him. Gaze into his wonderful glory and thank him with every breath. What a wonder!

May I give him what I have and not worry about what I do not!

I want to give you a place Lord
in my heart and in my life
A place where you can feel welcome
loved and adored
Even though I know I cannot give you
a small part of what you deserve
You give me nothing but approval
and love me even more

Give all... receive more than you could ever imagine.

Heaven will be such a place... a 'prepared' place. Just for me... and you...