A Sneak Peek

Photo Credit:  bosela from morgueFile.com

Every now and then, I take a peek on Pinterest to see what my friends have pinned.  A few nights ago, I happened to look and saw some of my sister-in-law’s recent pins.  Boy, was I excited! 

Why the enthusiasm?  Because as a labor of love, my husband’s sister, Sandra, makes me a dozen handmade greeting cards for a Christmas gift each year. AND…through her pins, I happened to get an unexpected glance at some of the ones I might perhaps be getting this December.  Oh yea, and they were so stinkin’ cute, I tell ya!  (So I guess the spoiler alert here is that now you know who actually makes the cute cards that you receive from me in your mailbox.  Poo!)

As a child, I was never one to hunt around the house looking for hidden presents nor did I shake the boxes to see if I could guess what they were before I opened them.  So, this Pinterest sneak peek wasn’t planned or intentional.

Sneak peeks can say a great deal in a short amount of time.  For movies, a trailer gives us a chance to decide if we even want to go see the whole thing.  For schools, sneak peek nights allow students the chance to meet their teacher, drop off supplies, and can actually set the tone for the entire school year.  As for books, a few teaser lines can make or break a book sale.

We often don’t realize it, but on a day-to-day basis, we too send out a “sneak peek” of who we truly are.  There is a great little poem that my mother-in-law found in a magazine and cut out to share with her five grandkids. The 1970’s poem explains more about this “sneak peek” of ourselves and it’s called “You Tell on Yourself:”

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,

By the very manner in which you speak.

By the way you employ your leisure time,

By the use you make of dollar and dime.

You tell on yourself by the things you wear,

By the spirit in which your burdens you bear.

By the type of things at which you laugh,

By the records you play on your phonograph.

You tell what you are by the way you walk,

By the things of which you delight to talk.

By the manner in which you can bear defeat,

By so simple a thing as how you eat.

By the books you choose from the library shelf,

By these things and more, you tell on yourself.

~ Author Unknown ~

If we can get past the phonograph line, I think we’ll find that it all rings pretty darn true.  Think about this for a second…if we were a movie, what would our trailer look like?  Would people want to invest their time in the whole movie (getting to know us) or call it quits after the preview?  Hmmmm…..food for thought at least. 

If you live in Texas, you might have experienced a sneak peek this past week.  Temperature-wise, I think we got a little preview of hell.  I mean, every other facebook post was a picture of an outdoor thermometer that read 110 degrees or more.  Texas was roasting, folks, and I remember thinking, I do NOT want any part of that heat when my time on earth is up.  Yikes!

On the flip side, I’m also certain that we can get a sneak peek of heaven each day, if we just open our eyes.  My Aunt Edie picked out a few books for me from my friend Melissa’s library the other day.  She chose four equally wonderful books, so I didn’t know which one to start with.  However, Janice T. Connell’s book, “Angel Power” captivated my attention.  Only forty-five pages into it and I know I’m going to love it!

I often think about guardian angels, especially each night as we pray with the kiddos:  “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.  Amen.”

There are countless stories out there about angels and their power in our lives.  In my reading thus far, it says that one of the jobs of angels is to bring order out of chaos.  (Do I hear an AMEN, Moms?!)

A few paragraphs of Connell’s book have hollered out to me:

“Angels are quite aware that our time on earth is short.  Eternity is forever.  Angels constantly seek to prepare us for our journey into eternity.  They inspire us to pray in whatever way we can.  They encourage us to abandon ourselves to God’s Providence in their care.  They want us to allow ourselves to belong totally to God.  His Love for us is unconditional and unchanging.  The angels know that it is we who run from God.  God never abandons us:  we abandon God – His Angels, His Ways, His Will.”

“Angels constantly warn us not to worry about anything but God’s Will, for they know that God’s Will is a personal path of peace, joy, and love that He has uniquely designed for each of us.  They always inspire us to pray more, to sacrifice fleeting things.  They want us to simplify our lives and eliminate needless things, especially worry.  Worry is lack of trust in Angel Power and in God’s Ability to make all things well.  His Will for us is perfect happiness.  The angels want us to hear God and see God.”

“God has empowered angels to lead us away from deceptions that would ensnare us, that would steal our peace, joy, love, and tranquility.  Angels are a gift to us from God.  No one has to accept a gift.  We have the choice to allow holy angels to lead us or not.  We give the angels great pleasure when we recognize them and follow their gentle inspirations.  Angels desire to draw us into the very Heart of God.”

If the angels can help provide a sneak peek of what’s beyond the Pearly Gates, then I’m all in.  I can’t wait to read the rest of the book.  My Aunt Jeanne told me several years ago to name my guardian angel and I did.  However, I don’t think I realize the power that Faith (that’s what I named her) has in my life.  But with each page, I hope to learn more and more.

If you haven’t already, think about naming your guardian angel this week.  Angels empower us to see God in our world.  And, isn’t that so hard to do at times?  I’m eager to tap into the amazing power of angels so that when I open my eyes, I can actually appreciate what I see…especially if it’s a sneak peek of Heaven.