Love Drops

Today would have been my grandmother’s birthday. She’s been in Heaven many years now,  but I think of her often, and always on this day.

Her name was Ethel, but we grandkids called her ‘Mama.’  She is the grandmother I wrote about in the blog post “The Pine Straw Playhouse” (April 14, 2011 post.) I spent a lot of time with her when I was a little girl, and every day spent with her was an adventure.

Mama was the wife of a preacher. But, she also had a ministry of her own. It was a ministry to children, and it went beyond Sunday morning children’s church and summertime Vacation Bible School. She was often invited to various churches to hold week-long children's ministry events.. and they were events! She would have the children singing, making crafts, and marching around the sanctuary. She would have them spellbound as she used vivid illustrations to tell the children well-known Bible stories that demonstrate God’s love. 

I used to travel with her. I’d play the piano for her, help her make her crafts, and help her decorate the sanctuary. Her main theme was “Love Drops” and she would use a prop like the one in the photo to drive home the point of that night’s message.  As the service ended, she would give each child their very own bookmark-sized Love Drop to take home as a reminder of the message, and of God’s love and care.

My grandfather even penned a song called “Love Drops.” The lyrics depict God’s love as cleansing and restoring raindrops from Heaven.

Today, on my grandmother’s birthday, I pulled out the Love Drops prop. It's been around a long time and is showing its age. But, as I looked at it, I began to think about God’s ageless ‘love drops.’ They may take many forms. They may come in the form of the water of baptism. They may come in the form of an afternoon rain shower that cools us down on a hot summer’s day.  Then, again, God’s love drops may not come in the form of water at all, but in the form of a loving word, a kind act, a promise kept, a hand held, a need met, a relationship restored, and a heart forever changed.

God’s love was ultimately shown on a hill, on a cross… on a day when the skies opened wide and  LOVE came down… and in dying, was reborn into a love that will live forever.

I've lost track of which birthday this would have been for my grandmother. It doesn’t really matter. The most important thing to remember is that no matter how many birthdays we’ve had…God's 'love drops' still fall on us. He loves us through the people who come into our lives, through the unexpected blessings that may come our way….and even through the occasional storms of life.

Birthday or not- that’s a gift to cherish.