I make my way to the mailbox, a little annoyed that the only stamps the Post Office has for me are poinsettias. It’s September people.
But then, 2020 has been a letter-writing kind of year.
These are love notes, each one carefully chosen and written specifically for particular grandchildren. Standing in the dollar store, looking through the rows of cards, buying postage, finding little things to tuck inside, then writing personalized messages just for them, takes time and thought.
But I don’t mind. I imagine the smiles as they open their envelopes.
Open their love notes.
Every one appreciates little confirmations of love.
I certainly do, and I have been blessed to have received many love notes in my lifetime: cards, poetry, letters, flowers, and gifts.
And yet, my favorite love notes came wrapped in fur, long ears, and a fluffy tail.
“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13
The night had been restless, and now, once again the ominous anticipation of something terrible about to happen followed me relentlessly. There was no one to call, no pressing job. The house felt like a hotel. A place I was visiting; a place devoid of warmth.
So, I attempt to busy myself with making things right in this, my new “home.” I am good at that sort of thing. Detail-oriented and all. But the boxes have long been unpacked, pictures hung, and closets sorted. I stop and try to read, but my brain refuses to absorb. I put music on, and then the television, but the noise aggravates the hurt. My Bible, my verse cards, my journal fill some time, but nothing drowns out the incessant thoughts that plague me. Tears have long dried, and I begin to recite all I am grateful for.
But it doesn’t help. Nothing helps.
The enemy circles in for the kill.
Lost.
Alone.
Deserted.
Not wanted.
In desperation, I put my shoes on, and head outside. It’s a sunny day in the suburbs. Carefully planned trees and look alike stick-built houses stretch before me leading to an asphalt walkway that winds through a grass field scattered with a few trees and bushes.
And there sits a bunny.
Not a rabbit.
A bunny. Small and Easter-like, still as a statue until it senses me and hops off daintily. “A bunny,” I think and pause slightly before pressing on, head down, shoulders hunched, and back tight.
Not thirty seconds later, I look ahead to see two. Two bunnies. I wonder if they are twins. A glint of delight and half of a small, sad smile passes quickly over my face.
Still frantic to escape the vice of darkness that chases me, I cross the road and move into the conclave of colonial look-alike houses that fill the next neighborhood.
There, I raise my eyebrows as another bunny jumps through a yard I pass.
“What on earth?” I think it must be bunny season, and I start counting.
Forty minutes later, I circle back around to the asphalt pathway.
Nine. Nine bunnies.
Each one has diverted my attention away from my burdens. At first, just for a few seconds and then, longer. Somewhere in my walk, it occurs to me that if my heavenly Father’s eye is on the sparrow, then surely, it is also on the bunnies. All Creatures Great and Small and all that.
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”Matthew 6:26, ESV
By default, the train of thought carries over to me.
His eye is on me.
And on this day, filled with painful memories, shallow breathing, and the enemy’s accusations, my Father sent me nine love notes in the form of sweet bunnies.
Not because I love bunnies because I don’t. The “R” word for them gives me a rodent feel and, even though they are not rodents (go ahead, look it up) and star in one of my favorite movies (Peter Rabbit), I would never own one.
Unless my grandchildren lived with me and wanted one.
Today, as I flip through my phone, I am surprised by how many pictures I have of unexpected bunny sightings through the years.
Now, before I get accused of spiritualizing bunnies or end up in the “My Guardian Angel” section of Woman’s World Magazine, I feel I must clarify that I’m not a spooky, mystic person. Nor am I the only one who has despaired of seeing God’s goodness.
Once, while in the middle of hardship, David asked God to send Him a “token for good.”
“Some token of thy favour show,
Some sign which all my foes may see;
And filled with blank confusion know,
My comfort and my help in thee.”
Psalm 86:17 (Charles Spurgeon)
Scholars cannot say for certain when David wrote Psalm 86, but everyone agrees that his request was answered by God many times over.
Stones.
Protection.
Loyal friends.
A feast prepared by a wise woman.
Engedi.
Not all love notes come in the mail.
Some come with long ears, others on vines, like the gourd that fickle Jonah received (Jonah 4). Some, as self-focused Naomi finally came to see, come wrapped in the human skin of a daughter-in-law (Ruth 1). Food, water, and a still, small voice restored despairing Elijah’s will to live (1 Kings 19), while the gift of thirst sent the used and heartbroken woman to the well where she met her Savior (John 4).
And we all have the rainbow—that everlasting, beautiful sign that we are never forsaken (Genesis 9).
Sometimes, wrapped in overwhelm of our circumstances, we don’t see the love notes our heavenly Father sends, but when we do—they are forever imprinted on our hearts.
Years have passed since that nine-bunny day, but any bunny sighting still makes me smile. My heavenly Father cared enough for me to find something that would make me smile.
And He persisted until I did.
For the most part, those suffocating dark periods are gone. And yet, there are times I still need those reminders of my Father’s love. Like recently, when exhausted after packing an entire house and moving several hundred miles, I decided to take a walk to the goldfish pond I had made a brief nod to on arrival.
Not a big goldfish person either, but I do love the sound of water, so I ventured closer.
And there, under a tree by the pool, sat a beautiful, stone-glass mosaic bench…
with a bunny on it.
And I laughed.
Love. Needed this today. 🙂 🤗
Praying you see a love note today, Serena!
Inspiring, as usual. It makes me pray I see all my love notes.
Yes, Bonnie, I am learning to look for those love notes! I wonder how many I have missed through the years.
great punch line.. God has a sense of humor… thanks for sharing
So good when God gives those things that put the smile on our face or cause us to laugh. Oh how good they are. I had a beautiful hummingbird come to flowers on my balcony but it came so fast I only got a quick look at it and I simply said father bring him back so I can look at him and watch him a few minutes. No sooner prayed and back he came to my flowers as I enjoyed watching him with tears in my eyes for my Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Put a smile on my face all day every time I recalled it. The great love God has for us in the big and small things. How much he loves us. Never alone!!!