The Finest Linen


​​©Jennifer Lynn Easton Joy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ / שמחה איסטון לין ינייפר
"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it." ~ Psalm 37:4-5, NASB
November 26, 2018

True Story: When I was a child growing up, women carried hankies. Oftentimes, the hankie carried the special scent of the owner. My mother had quite a collection of embroidered or flowery light weight hankies. She would wipe my runny nose, wipe off my hands or spit wash my face with it when needed. Whenever there was a mishap, she had a hankie handy. Men also carried handkerchiefs. Men would carry a fresh handkerchief every day to wipe grease off his hands, wipe his nose or if he was lucky he would offer a vulnerable lady his handkerchief as an act of chivalry. To me, the hankie/handkerchief was a unique part of my childhood. Over the years, my mother gave me many of her hankies. I really didn't know what to do with them but I saved them in a drawer because they were something personal and special from my mother. My mother in law also was a hankie carrier and over the years she passed some of her hankies on to me as well. After they both died, here I was with a collection of their hankies in my drawer nicely folded and carrying their special scent. When I missed my mother, sometimes I would hold her hankie to my nose to see if I could smell her and remember her. I just could not discard the hankies because they were a personal intimate memento of two significant women in my life. In 2010, as I was packing to go on the mission field heading for Australia, I wanted to take something that would bring me comfort and a sense of home and family. I knew my mother would be mortified that I was traveling such a long distance alone. I grabbed a few hankies and I said out loud, come on mom, come on Eleanor, lets go travel the world. I took those hankies to Australia, Mexico City, Costa Rica, Europe, Dominican Republic, Kenya and Uganda with many trips back to America in between. They were in a sense my traveling companions. I say all that to tell a story about what happened yesterday in church. Jennifer Joy was delivering a message at New Beginnings Church. She had spread a table with bread and oil, grape juice, figs, nuts and chocolate kisses as a communion table. She spoke about Unity in the church and forgiveness. It was a beautiful message. 

At the end of the table were a multitude of sweetly folded kerchiefs, inside each was a card with a special word from Scripture to bring encouragement to the individual who picked the kerchief. I took the bread and wine of communion and filled a small plate with the other items, then I very consciously selected my kerchief with the special message inside. I had just been praying the day before and wrote in my journal. "God I need a Word from you." I looked at the selection on the table... I almost selected the flowery light weight kerchief, but I stopped, I almost selected the embroidered one, but I stopped. I said a small prayer and asked God to guide me to the one He wanted me to select. I brought the kerchief back to my seat and waited. Finally I opened it and inside was the perfect Word from my papa out of Psalm 37. It settled in my heart on many levels and even carried a clear instruction for me. Then I noticed the kerchief I selected was not your standard thin cotton kerchief, it was the finest linen. One carried by a wealthy and dignified individual. Then I saw the monogram on the kerchief... It was a beautiful letter G. I pondered for a moment. G..... G... G,,,, Wow! I think God gave me His monogrammed handkerchief from His private collection because He knew I would treasure it and understand the depth of its meaning and he sent me a personal private message that he wanted me to take to heart. A wave of comfort washed over me. I felt this was worthy of sharing with my world of friends.

I believe that God is talking to us every day in a multitude of ways, Our God is a talking God. Are you listening? Are you courageous enough to believe? Are you paying attention to the small and regular ways God is communicating with you? Let he who has ears let them hear what the spirit of the Lord is saying to the church.

​Theresa Daley, Colville, Washington, USA
And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ~ Mark 4:9, NASB