I keep a daily calendar by my sink in the kitchen.  It is written by Joyce Meyer who is a well-known author and conference host. Her teachings from God¹s Word continue to be  encouragement and inspiration for me as she challenges me to trust God and enjoy life.  I was particularly touched by one of her daily messages and wanted to share it with you.  It is called ³Dwell in Love². No matter how much God loves you, if you are not conscious and aware of it, it is not going to do you any good.  You know how good it makes you feel if somebody really shows you a lot of love?  You feel so warm and wonderful that you could just take the world by the tail because you know somebody loves you. God loves you, and He wants to show you that love, but He can only show it to you when you spend time with Him on a daily basis. 

³And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  1 John 4:16  

Hope for the moment.  There are times when it is hard to believe in the future, when we are temporarily just not brave enough.  When this happens, concentrate on the present.  Cultivate lepetit bonheur (the little happiness) until courage returns.  Look forward to the beauty of the next moment, the next hour, the promise of a good meal, sleep, a book, a movie, the likelihood that tonight the stars will shine and tomorrow the sun will shine.  Sink roots into the present until strength grows to think about tomorrow. 

Ardis Whitman, Reader's Digest 

As the season for graduations comes and goes, I reflect on my attendance at a graduation ceremony at the University of Iowa and another celebration here in Muscatine. They were joyful times.  So many lives gathered to celebrate a significant milestone in the graduate’s life.  As I looked around, I saw familiar faces that I hadn’t seen in years, gathered together around tables overflowing with beautifully arranged platters of food.  As I looked across the lawn, I watched the children running through the grass so green.  It was as if I had been given a snapshot of a scene from heaven.  It made me think about the grand entrance and reunion we will have one day with all of our dear friends and family who have gone on before us. I know this reflection is a gift from God.  We have so much to look forward to in heaven.  May we practice the discipline of delayed gratification as we store up our treasures in heaven rather than here on earth.
 
"My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning."  Psalm 130:6

Caringbridge entry from June 14, 2007

Dear Sweet Erika Kate,

Wow! There are so many thoughts and feelings running through my mind these days; I can’t begin to capture them all. Living this past year without you running around our home has been a huge challenge, and often too overwhelming to embrace; but I am often reminded how you couldn’t really run around without some kind of a negative consequence overcoming your little body. But I thought you should know that your little brother seems to be running all over for you. He seems to have inherited many of your qualities, like your determined expression seen in the way you hold your mouth, your interest in playing with keys and doors, your interest in listening to music loudly, your creative ways of getting into trouble, your laugh with a wrinkled up nose, your love of babies and beads, your love of swinging and driving the princess jeep around in circles. Your sister and brother speak of you daily. We finish every time of prayer with a greeting to you, “We love you and miss you, Erika, and we’ll see you soon.” Emma had her first dream of you. You were wearing your blue jeans and your purple Zoe sweatshirt. The dream gave her a happy feeling inside. When we went to the cemetery last week, Emma wanted to bring you flowers and balloons. She eagerly trimmed around and cleaned your stone, as we watered the flowers and shared with each other what was on our hearts. Emma told me she missed you, her playmate, and that she couldn’t believe you were gone. It brought tears to my eyes to hear her innocence in talking about how your absence has affected her. But she knows you two will be playing together again someday in our new home, heaven.

We know you are in the best of care as we get reminders from you that God has everything under control. Daddy and I talk about you often, how we miss you and how difficult it was to see you struggle in this life, especially the twelve days after your transplant. We agreed that June 2, the day of your transplant, was even more difficult than this day. We watched you with much anxiety and agony as your condition was so unstable day after day. It was absolute hell to watch doctors and nurses trying one thing after another to rectify the situation to no avail. We feel that the aggressive nature of your heart disease caused us to be put in a position in which we needed to act as we did in order to give you the best chance at life. We didn’t consider a heart and lung transplant for you, and to do nothing was not acceptable in our eyes. We felt God was opening all the right doors for your life to be made better by having a heart transplant. We know that when we see you in heaven, we will not have to explain why we decided to do what we did. We will all look at each other, thrilled to be reunited, and our love for one another will overshadow any explanations and bring forth understanding. Your passing into the presence of God was painful, yet somewhat peaceful to watch.You deserved a better life, and we thank God for rescuing you as gently and lovingly as He did.

I must tell you, we went to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday. It was one of the best days since your homegoing. When we first arrived at the zoo, we purchased some tickets for the Sea Lion Show. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw the name of the attendant selling us the tickets was Erika. I don’t believe it was a coincidence that the first person we met there had the same name as you. With a few tears, I realized that this was my reminder that you were with us at the zoo, and we should have a great time being together as a family. Thank you for always finding a creative way to make a connection with us. We treasure each effort God makes to reassure us that He is with us and wants to help us hold you closely. It is our desire to continue to pursue a more intimate relationship with Him because we know that as we draw closer to Him, we will be drawn closer to you; as we recognize how our spirits are soothed by deep meaningful connections with those in this life and in the life to come.