Hello God. It's me, Mara

You know, Lord, some bumper stickers are worth a chuckle or a big smile; for instance, this one: “I’m in the initials stages in my golden years.” It then listed initials: S. S., C D’s, IRA’S and AARP. As we age, those initials may appear true to life for each of us.

There’s a story about a young couple trying to adjust to married life. A special person gave them a bit of advice about using initials o show/tell their spouse how much they love them. It’s fun to see the creative ways where SHMILY can show up. Oh, reader, you don’t know what SHMILY? It’s “See How Much I Love You.”  Here is a fun idea: write “SHMILY” on a slip of heart-shaped paper and tuck it into the sock drawer, cereal box, the sugar bowl or whatever. Another idea is every wash day, put that little heart-shaped piece of paper on top of one of your pillows, just tucked under the top sheet. Fun!

There’s a story about Cricket, a little girl about 8 years old. She spent some time with her Nana and Tata one winter. For fun, Nana filled a spray bottle with water and added some blue food coloring. The deep snowdrift by the sidewalk was simply kid-high, perfect. Cricket had fun as she “painted” blue things on the snow banks; then added (with Nana’s help) SHMILY for Tata, who was the sidewalk shoveler. What fun she had.

Your word, Lord, tells us how much You love us. Best known is probably John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

  Thank You, Lord, that You said “SHMILY” so much that You died for us.  That is the greatest SHMILY of all.

Love Mara