Lessons Learned From Being a Father: Remnants of Heaven

Several thoughts went through my head this morning when the alarm clock went off at the unholy hour of 4:40 am, none of which were uplifting and inspiring. I prepared somewhat grudgingly for early morning church meetings thinking over and over about how ironic it is that the “Day of Rest” is the day I have to get up earliest. I showered and dressed with my eyes half open and my mind mostly closed. I dressed and walked by the mirror to see if I could get away without shaving. My shirt, I noticed, was wrinkled—even by my standards. This is going to be one of those days. Not being ambitious enough to pull out the iron and ironing board, I headed to the dryer. 10 Minutes on medium heat usually does the trick. As I opened the dryer my eyes were met with a gift from heaven.

Remnants of Jessica, I thought, as I pulled several toys out of the dryer.
Seeing the toys in the dryer was not unexpected. With a one-year-old on the loose, things are always disappearing and reappearing in odd places. The image of those toys in the dryer immediately brought to my mind Jessica’s smiling face and the expression of pride that must have crossed it as she stuffed those toys into the dryer.

Thinking of her smiling face somehow made the early morning not so dark, and I thought, how often does our Heavenly Father send remnants of heaven into our lives to make dark days not seem so dark? A sunrise or sunset, a smile from a friend, a flower, a thunderstorm, a kiss from a child, a letter from a friend, or a hug. All around us there are remnants of heaven: subtle messages of love and care from our Heavenly Father if we are receptive enough to see them.

Thank-you, Jessica, for bring a little piece of Heaven to my morning.