Letters to Heaven: Silver and Gold

"With their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction." Hosea 8:4

July 9, 2011

Dear Jesus:

Here I am keeping You company in the Blessed Sacrament. I want to start by thanking You for my 49 years of life which I celebrated four days ago. Thank You Jesus for all the blessings that You have bestowed upon me. Thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You for placing me in a Catholic family who planted the first seed in my heart. Thank You because I know that my life is what it is because You have always been a part of it.

Thank You for Rafe. Thank You for crossing our paths in the summer of 1980 when I was praying to You to allow me to meet a good man of faith. Thank You for our marriage. Ten days ago we celebrated 27 years. We had plans to go to a new restaurant in Brickell but unfortunately, our plans had to be altered. Chabeli was returning from Jacksonville and her plane was delayed because of the bad weather. They had to land in Key West to refuel. Apparently, they had to detour and fly through the West Coast. She landed two hours late and since we told her that we would pick her up, we missed our reservation. We ended up eating at our favorite neighborhood restaurant, "Secreto." This is always a great choice and as Rafe said, "it's not the place, it's the company." And the fact that Chabeli made it home safely is the best gift. 

Speaking of Chabeli, she's really enjoying her internship at Deloitte. Thank You for leading her to that great company. Rafi also continues to do well in Seattle in his Microsoft internship. He went to San Francisco for the Fourth of July weekend to be with Emily. Thank You, Jesus, for placing her in his path. I pray that she can be a good influence in his life. Rafi has fallen head over heels in love with her. I pray for her also, that through Rafi she can get close to You.

Before I opened this journal to write to You, I first opened the Bible. I asked You to open it up at the page that You desired so that I could read Your message to me today. I opened the Bible at Hosea 8, and to be honest with You, I was a bit disappointed. This chapter talks about destruction, war and idols. It's not a pretty chapter and it's not a nice message.

I picked a random sentence which I quoted at the beginning of this letter. It talks about how silver and gold can bring about our destruction. It is so true. The love of material things can have the power to separate us from You. If we idolize things and material possessions, then we are not idolizing You, and You should be our only idol.

Thank You, Jesus, for our marriage and for blessing us with three wonderful children. Please, Jesus, help us not to love material things to the point that we take our eyes off You. Help us to keep our entire focus on You.

I love You, Jesus!!!

"Though wealth increase, do not set your heart upon it." Psalm 62:10

July 23, 2017

Dear Jesus:

Thank You for choosing Rafe for my husband. He's a man of faith who is like-minded with me. Together we can walk through this journey. Please help us to value You more than our possessions. Help us not to set our hearts upon wealth. Help us to be open to spreading it. Help us to place all our trust in You alone. And I pray the same for my children. May You always be first.

I love You, Jesus!!!