I found a letter in the mailbox yesterday! Nothing makes me happier. That sweet note warmed my heart and made me cry and smile all at the same time. For the past 24 years my friend Boss Lady has sent me a heartfelt note on the anniversary of Rosie’s death. That thoughtfulness is a true testament to a dear friendship. I love this anonymous quote on friendship, “Because of you, I laugh a little harder, cry a little less, and smile a lot more.” I’ve written before on how meaningful hand written letters are. I have her note here beside me and have read it several times today. This note will go in my keepsake box for safe keeping. Thank you, friend!

The world would be a harsh place without friendship. “A friend who understands your tears is much more valuable than a lot of friends who only know your smile,” Anonymous. Friends give us emotional support and help us weather the turbulence in our lives. When our friends are happy so are we. Social connections relieve stress and the laughs we get from our friends are beneficial to our health. Laughter really is the best medicine. Friends love us and accept us as we are, listen when we pour out our feelings. The support Chief and I received from our friends when Rosalyn died helped us through the nightmare of her death.

I’m pondering late afternoon in the porch swing watching the clouds rush in, their bellies darkening with rain. Not many birds on the feeders today. Guess they are looking for hidey-holes to ride out the forecasted storms. In the span of the next 24 hours we’ll experience all four seasons and maybe a snow shower. Only in Alabama. Deb Cobern writes, “One thing about Alabama, the weather changes so quickly, we get everything, sometimes within a day!” Mark Twain must have been thinking of Alabama’s weather when he said, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, and it will change.”

The breeze is stout with a growing coldness, playing musical pipes with the wind chimes. Right now the sun is a bright white lightbulb, blinding to look at, hanging down like a naked lightbulb in an old mine shack, swinging back and forth, peeking out from its cloud covers. At sunset Mother Nature painted the horizon’s low clouds a shade of deep ocean aqua. As I watched the pageant of sunset evolve Mother Nature stroked hot pink watercolors across the aqua horizon. So pretty as the darkness fell from the sky waking the night with its heaven of twinkling stars.

I’ve had the wind on my mind all afternoon, pondering on how the wind can be compared to the Holy Spirit. The wind moves and blows where it wills and is unpredictable. We don’t know where the wind comes from or where its been. We can’t see the wind, it’s invisible, but we can feel the wind on our face, hear it in the tintinnabulations of the wind chimes, see its powerful effects on the landscape following terrific storms.

The wind reminds me of God and our faith. God’s spirit is invisible but we see his power as he moves through our lives and changes things. We can’t see God but we can feel his presence when we’re quiet in moments of prayer and reflection. We can see his reflection in the glorious sunrise and magnificent sunset. Eliot Kang says, “Faith, like the wind, is abstract, metaphysical, intangible. You cannot see the wind; you cannot see faith.” I think we see faith through kindness to each other. We don’t see God but we feel his presence and see his handiwork through his creation.

John 3:8 reads, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” God’s power is in the wind. He puts the breath of life in the new born baby and refreshes us with the winds of his love and grace. Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” 1 John 4:4 reads, “When the Holy Spirit dwells in you; you then realize that you carry the winds of heaven, and all of it’s abilities inside of you.”

As we sail through life we need to keep our sails unfurled to catch the winds of God’s love.

“The wind of God’s grace is incessantly blowing.” —Mahatma Gandhi