We all put and keep things in our hearts that are very near and dear to us.  When I was young, my Grandmother Pullen used to send me a letter every year for my birthday and enclose two dollar bills.  The letter would always tell about working in their garden or Granddaddy’s big catch at the lake.  When I read her letters I always imagined being at their lake house.  My grandmother was an amazing cook – reading the letter I could almost smell and taste the fresh green beans and new potatoes from their garden, or the creamy, cheesy yellow squash she always made, or the fresh tomatoes, onions and okra that went into the best okra gumbo I’ve eaten in my life.  I could clearly imagine getting up early in the morning to go out on the boat with Granddaddy to check the trot lines, and maybe pulling in a 25 or 30 pound channel catfish…and what that catfish tasted like when Grandmother fried it up alongside all of those wonderful, garden-fresh vegetables.  I loved her letters because they reminded me of good times at my grandparents’ house.  And I loved the fact that the two dollars would buy me two Hot Wheels cars.  I was all about that!

But there was another reason I loved Grandmother’s letters.  I loved them especially because she always finished every letter by writing “I love you oodles and oodles.”  I can even remember so vividly the way she wrote the word “oodles” in her cursive handwriting…it was just one super-long string of loops!  Like the oodles never had an end.  I didn’t know anyone besides Grandmother who said “I love you” quite like that, which made it extra special to me.

Almost fifteen years ago now, when I learned that Grandmother’s cancer finally overtook her, I thought of the strong Christian woman she was and the wonderful wife and mother and grandmother she had been.  I thought about how good she was to all people.  And I also reflected on the pain that she endured as she fought her cancer.  And I thought of her letters to me.

I can tell you this:  the two dollar bills Grandmother sent me every year went quickly from the envelope to my pocket, and then just as quickly right out of my pocket for Hot Wheels, to be gone forever.  But the memory of the “oodles and oodles of love” she had for me that she sent in every letter is hidden in my heart to be treasured forever and ever.  I will never forget it.

In Ephesians 3:17, part of what Paul prayed for the Ephesians was “that Christ may dwell in your hearts…”  God’s love shown to you and me in Christ and His sacrifice should be not just put in our hearts, not just hidden in our hearts – He should be buried deep in our hearts and treasured always! 

Make Jesus near and dear to your heart and allow Him to dwell there forever and ever.