apples of gold

It probably only took a few minutes.

You thought about it off and on, then finally sat down and wrote it.

You chose a card (it was so perfect).  You picked up a pen.

Maybe you took a few moments to gather your thoughts.  Then again, maybe it was just there in your heart, each word lined up, ready to be written.

You wrote.  You penned.  You scrawled.

Then you folded it.  Tucked it into an envelope.  Addressed it quickly because other things were calling.

You stamped it.  And, if you are like me, you placed it in your mailbox and raised that flag that calls the mailman to stop at your box.

Then...you probably didn't think much else about it.

I know the steps.  I've done them hundreds, maybe thousands, of times in my life.

But the effect at this end, the giver becoming the receiver, well, I'm not sure you understand.

Your words reminded me of this:

"Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken (written) in right circumstances" (Proverbs 25:11).

I'm not sure I truly understand that saying.  But I've seen some artsy depictions of it.  And let me tell you, they are B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!

And that is what your kind words mean to me.

Perhaps I DID do something to merit your thoughts.  I'm not sure, maybe.

But I think that God did something through me that touched you and thus you responded in my heart-language.  Snail mail.  (Love it!)

All I know is that the day before my mailman dropped those cards in my box, I had told God I was weary.  Or was it frustrated?  Lost maybe?  Not sure that I was doing what He wanted me to be doing at this stage in my story.  So why bother.

I'll admit it, I was low.  (Stinkin' thinkin'!!)

I battle with depression.  Unfortunately, or not, it IS a symptom of being a creative person.  I'm not sure why.  Perhaps I need the deep down blues in order to be motivated to write.  All I know is that statistically artists and writers (even actors and musicians) struggle with depression.

I haven't been really down, you know that down-downness where even brushing my teeth seems futile, I've not been there for many years.

But I've been on the edge, finding my feet beginning to slip down that slippery slope of stinkin' thinkin'.

I was there just the other day. I could see the ground beginning to teeter.

So I cried out to my Father in Heaven, the One who, even though He is the Creator of all things, still lifts me to His lap and bends His ear down to hear my whispers.

I love the LORD, because He hears 

My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2

And what was His response?

He, in His omnipresent way, saw me those days before I was slipping.  He saw me on Monday, and He knew exactly what I needed.

So He moved in your heart, whispered in your ear, "Write that note to her!  She needs it."

And you heard.  And you heeded.

And all I can say is...what an awesome God we both serve.



(I am a prayer warrior by God's gifting.  And with it I've used my writing gift to encourage others with snail mail.  I encourage you to take that minute or too and just write a simple note to that woman that God has been nudging you about.  Just write "I prayed for you today."  I can tell you it will make her day AND glorify God in the giving.)