I had originally planned to write my N blog about Nachos, but I will save them for S as I make them with Sweet Potatoes. That was my plan until the other day when I was decluttering one of my desk drawers and found a note that Zoe had left on my treadmill about 10 years ago. It was nothing fancy, just three little pieces of post it notepaper, which each contained one word I, Love, and You. I still remember how they made me feel.
It was the same feeling I used to have growing up when I would get little notes from my mom in my lunch bag. She would put these little love notes in my lunch bag so that I would know that I was loved. I have done that for those I love since then. It is always nice when someone takes the time to prepare you a meal, although sometimes we just take it for granted. However, I have found that when I put one of those little notes in with the lunch, it brings a wave of love into the life of the recipient. I try to do the same anytime I prepare a meal for someone when they are sick, or when I am giving a gift of food as a gift for a birthday or holiday. Sometimes we all need to read those words of love.
A colleague of mine tells the story about how she left notes for her husband when she was going to be gone traveling for work. She left little love notes for her husband hidden throughout their house. In the medicine cabinet next to his razor, he would discover, “Missing you. Loving you.” Under his pillow, a little note reminding him, “You’re the best. Rest deeply.” Inside his sock drawer, “Today is filled with my love for you.”
When she returned home, he told her how fun it was to be surprised by the love notes. While she was away, he had moved one of the notes to a more prominent place over the kitchen sink: “The best is yet to come. Love you always.” It has been a few years since that trip, but that note remains in their kitchen.
Often, it’s easier to show and share love in relationships outside our families than it is with the people closest to us. Between busy lives and complex history, communicating love can get stale or lost in the daily grind.
I am so glad I found these notes. Even though Zoe now eats all her meals at home, I may have to put little notes in front of her plate and hide them around the house to make sure she hears words of love for me throughout the day.
This is just one of the many ways I can plant a note of love in the lives of my wife and others that I love. When I open my senses, I become aware of all the little love notes that the Ultimate Consciousness has left for me each day. Where do you see God planting love notes in your life? How might your eyes be opened to see them?