Always On His Mind

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

- Psalm 8:3-5

I work with a man who is compelled to write notes of encouragement to everyone he can. He always has his pen and pad of paper ready at hand for every available moment to write yet another message to someone who comes to mind. In fact, he had written so many notes to me and my family that he ended up giving me a big box to file and save them. I'm not sure how extensive his mailing list is, but everyday he carries a load of envelopes spilling out of his briefcase, representing his ever-widening circle of friendships.

Recently, at a Special Needs Ministries conference at a local church, his Dad, one of the panelists on a Forum, shared some of the challenges and joys of raising a child with special needs. He highlighted a number of unique gifts that his son shares with the people in his life, and mentioned in passing his son's love of writing notes to others. The entire crowd of people nodded their heads knowingly. He remarked that while his son would typically only write a brief line or two, the message behind those countless notes were not defined by words, but moreover, "you're on his mind".

One particular note with a simple message scrawled out across the page stands out in my mind, "God loves you Dallas, and so do I". Our sovereign Creator is mindful of me in my infinitesimal corner of this vast universe. How could it be that God could personally care about me? Does God not have more pressing concerns to attend to; global conflicts, poverty, injustice?

I don't pretend to have the answers to unanswerable questions, but my big box of overflowing notes have convinced me that I am loved, I am not alone, God cares deeply about every personal detail in my life. His profoundly simple notes communicate something that mere words can't; they speak into our lives of God's presence among us, His constant availability: God is always thinking of us.