Seven Letters to Heaven

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Preface.................................................................viiHow It All Began........................................................1The Gift of Prayer......................................................5Chapter Two I Know You Will Help Me.....................................7Background..............................................................7Letter..................................................................13Outcome.................................................................15Psalm 121...............................................................18The Nightingale's Praise................................................20Please Fix that Car, Lord, and Find Me a Buyer..........................22Background..............................................................22Letter..................................................................26Outcome.................................................................28The Great Mystery of Life...............................................32A Plea for Guidance and Direction in Meeting Goals......................34Background..............................................................34Letter..................................................................37Outcome.................................................................39Psalm 23................................................................42First Letter to the Reader..............................................44Take This Cup from Me...................................................47Background..............................................................47Letter..................................................................52Outcome.................................................................54Solace..................................................................57Fear of Not Meeting Deadlines...........................................59Background..............................................................59Letter..................................................................65Outcome.................................................................67Have You Ever...........................................................70A Plea for Help and Strength............................................72Background..............................................................72Letter..................................................................76Outcome.................................................................78Second Letter to the Reader.............................................82Thanksgiving Letter.....................................................85Reflections on the Thanksgiving Letter and on Faith.....................87The Day I Spoke with Jesus..............................................91Psalm 100...............................................................93Believe in Miracles!....................................................95Epilogue................................................................101

Chapter One

I had always felt that relocating from my homeland to another country would require a lot of courage. Yet, there I was, making that decision, along with my family, and feeling somewhat scared about a permanent move to the United States. From the start, you need to know that I used to worry a whole lot. Always calm, cool, and collected on the outside, I would worry myself to death on the inside. Since I worried about every little thing, you can understand that this big move my family was contemplating was killing me slowly.

With all the tasks that had to be completed before our departure, I sometimes felt the urge to reach out to someone. However, I never did, simply because of my pride. I just did not want to share my personal struggles and problems with family or friends. Being a formal person, this was something that I could not and would not do; for me, it was just not right-end of story. So, at night, in the privacy of my bedroom, I started writing letters of prayer to the Lord. These prayers, written as letters, were very personal and simple. They conveyed exactly what my true emotions were at that time, as well as provided me with some amount of comfort. More important, they helped to tell my story as it unfolded in Jamaica and showed me that the Lord does answer our prayers.

I wrote my first letter to God shortly after my husband, Gary, left for the United States on August 3, 1984. I sought assurance from the Lord in that particular letter regarding our plans to relocate. Gary had gone ahead to pave the way for the arrival of our two children, Gail and Kevin, as well as myself, in December of that same year. From that very first letter, my habit of writing letters to the Lord took on a life of its own.

Writing letters of prayer became my regular way of communicating with the Lord. I felt so much closer to Him. It was almost as if He were sitting there with me in my bedroom, and I were talking with Him. The experience created a feeling of comfort, which inspired me to freely share everything that was within my heart. When I wrote my letters, I was no longer that proud person who did not want to share her problems with anyone. It was a truly amazing feeling, as my Lord and Savior had now become my best friend-one who loved me unconditionally and asked for nothing in return.

My days were filled with a lot of activity in getting ready to leave Jamaica. Before I settled down to write one of my letters at night, I would usually be preoccupied with the concerns of that day. As soon as I started writing, I became calmer-an effect that deepened with each stroke of my pen. This had a healing effect on my spirit; before falling asleep, I felt assured that the Lord would help me.

In spite of all this assurance and calm, my tendency to worry would surface every day. I would worry, sometimes unnecessarily, in response to every stumbling block that I encountered. The calm would only come once I knocked on the Lord's door; this happened over and over again throughout the period before my departure. I prayed often and asked the Lord to strengthen my faith in between the times that I wrote my letters. I wanted so much to stop worrying at the sign of a problem and to fully let go and let God take charge of my life.

My faith was strengthened at the end of the four-month period, and the answers to my letters of prayer were revealed. The Lord, of course, did everything in His own way, in His own time, and at His own will.

Seven Letters to Heaven was written in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving for the goodness of God and His unconditional love for me, because I felt the need to share this beautiful experience with others. The poems interspersed throughout the book were also inspired from personal incidents. I felt compelled to write "The Day I Spoke with Jesus," as the experience recounted in the poem was truly real for me. "The Nightingale's Praise" was written one Sunday morning while a nightingale warbled for about ten minutes outside my bedroom window. I found the song of that bird haunting and beautiful; it was such a precious moment in time for me that I had to immediately capture it in that poem. "The Great Mystery of Life" was done after a friend tearfully shared a personal problem with me. "Solace," "Have You Ever ..." and "The Gift of...