A Little Wink
This past week has been a tough week for our family. That’s actually an understatement, it’s been one of the more challenging weeks we’ve faced. Last Monday I received a phone call from my mother-in-law that her son, my brother-in-law, my wife’s brother had been electrocuted in an accident and was on his way to the hospital via an ambulance. An hour later, almost to the minute, she called back saying they had lost him.
Later on in the week my wife and I were visiting with my father-in-law obviously having a tremendously tough time through all of this. He shared about how he was lying in bed praying one morning and the light coming through the window cast the shadow of a “K” on the wall. You see, my brother-in-law’s name was Keith. My wife and I were able to share with him that we’ve learned to call those thing “God winks.” It’s a term we adopted from some friends of ours.
A little more than four years ago I lost my mom suddenly. That was possibly the toughest thing I’ve walked through. A couple years after that I was processing getting some more tattoos, yes I said more. I was in the Marine Corps and there tattoos are just part of things. My tattoos have always been part of the way I’ve shared my story. During that time I never felt peace about getting more tattoos, at that, the ones I wanted would be more visible than others I have had. I kept praying, yeah, I said praying about getting these tattoos. Side note, God cares about the things you care about, yep, even tattoos. I got the green light! I not only felt peace but it was arranged for me to move forward with a great artist that usually had a long wait quickly. I ended up getting a butterfly for my mom, a swallow for my son, a hummingbird for my daughter, and a sparrow for my wife. I couldn’t have been more pleased.
These are things that represent people that are dear to me. They are part of my story. Now, every time I see a butterfly I think of my mom. I don’t think the butterfly is my mom but I think of her with great fondness. Recently, I started noticing some barn swallows that have nested at our house and when I mow grass they fly all around me feeding on the bugs I stir up. I have two hummingbird feeders on our back porch. You see where this is going.
What I believe is happening is God is saying I see you, I remember, and I love you. In essence, God is giving me a wink. I hope and pray my father-in-law keeps seeing “K’s” in his bedroom and I keep seeing butterflies, hummingbirds, and swallows. I have a friend that picks up or takes pictures of rocks, leaves, and many other things in nature that looks like hearts. It’s a huge wink for her.
Whatever you’ve walked through or whatever you’re walking through God sees you, God remembers you, and God loves you. Watch for the winks in your life, they are there and they are there because He sees you.
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