Etched In Our Hearts

What is green and glistening in early morning, but golden and dry by midday?  - - - a field of dandelions.

As I drove down the Center Road this morning, I thought, "someone mowed that field." but then of course I realized that the dandelions had just closed up in the darkness and dew, awaiting the sun to open and light them up again. When I returned home at noon, there was the entire field alight with yellow gold. I could just imagine skimming over it and letting the dandelions tickle my arms and feet! I can still remember the soft, feathery feel as it touches the skin, though I have not tickled myself with one since I was a child. It is amazing, these sensations that are etched into our memories.

Etched in my heart and mind...
When Syd and I moved "up home" (as Grandpa's house was always referred to), one of the first things I noticed was the pungent, sweet, spicy smell of the brook. It is only here that I have ever experienced this scent and I had always known it, since a young child. If it could be bottled, the perfume would be a great seller!

The memory of leisurely preschool days spent with Mom has followed me through the years. When I was in grade school I used to wish for those days again; just me and Mom, taking long walks and exploring the woods. This instilled in me the love of being at home. I would watch other children get off the school bus at the end of a day and wonder what kind of homes and parents they had, always thankful that I had a place like mine to go home to. And still, there is nothing like returning "home" after a long day or, better yet, of being able to be there all day long.

They say that you can "never go home again", but in a sense God has given me the privilege of doing so, with Mom now living close by and spending many afternoons with her - where we can still go walking and exploring the woods together.


"Home" describes a place where we "belong" and where our family is. There is no better place that  pictures this than Heaven, for a Christian. The most wonderful thing to have etched in our hearts is the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood on the cross, taking the death that we should have died for sin, then rising from the grave as conqueror! As a child of God's family, I am just pilgriming through this life and have the wonderful promise of eternity at Home with God.

until we get there...
Ours is a small cabin at the edge of the woods. Late this past winter I recall taking the dogs out on a crisp night and turning to look at the house while it sat like a huge luminary, the light of a single candle within, pushing its way through the designs that were clipped from its surface. I could think of nothing else to compare it to but this. The light that poured out the doorway resembled an illuminated pathway, welcoming me back in again.

These words come to mind as I think back on it...
Through the darkness a distant place is seen;
Golden rays of welcoming fingers stream
  out through its portals. Like moonbeams gleam
  on a still, small body of mirrored lake; or sheen
  of sun on glass; as night, serene.         ~ Cyndy

A painting by Thomas Kinkade, 'painter of light'

We all have sweet memories etched into the being of our souls. I hope that you can reflect on some today and that they will bring you pleasure.

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name." Revelation 3:12