Those of us who are widows are familiar with this statement: “We’re in a club none of us wanted to join.”

But God has made it clear he’s the #1 fan of our club and is tightly tuned-in to the needs of its members. Amazingly, this attentiveness includes even unspoken needs no one else knows about. He knows, and is steadily working to meet them. Once in a while he’ll even put a note in one of our mailboxes, personally written by him.

Yesterday my mail included a sunshine yellow envelope from someone I’ve never met, a compassionate person who is encouraging widows in concrete ways, and she isn’t even in our club. When her personal note mentioned she’d been married 43 years, I knew we must be about the same age.

Cathy introduced herself as having heard my story on the radio a couple of weeks ago, and the fact that she continued listening after learning the programs were focused on widowhood is a testament to her big heart. She wrote, “Thank you for giving me insight as to how to treat widows.”

But the best part about Cathy’s note was the gift inside: a dozen colorfully decorated cards, each with an encouraging Scripture passage, and all of them laminated. As the cards spilled out of her envelope, I was overcome with her kindness, a woman I didn’t even know who wasn’t in “the club,” reaching out to one of its members.

But the best part was that she said, “These are love notes from the Lord,” refusing credit for herself and giving it to him instead. He’d written a love note to me, and Cathy was, in a way, the mailman. Some of the heart-stirring things he said were:

• “The Lord’s people may suffer a lot, but He will always bring them safely through.” (Psalm 34:19)
• “You are complete in Christ.” (Colossians 2:10)
• “God takes care of orphans and protects widows. He finds families for those who are lonely.” (Psalm 68:5-6)
• “How precious it is Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly.” (Psalm 139:17-18)
• “You’ll get through this.” (Isaiah 43:2)

Cathy used different Bible translations for the verses and a wide variety of papers, texts, fonts, and card sizes to frame God’s words attractively. The process probably took a great deal of time, and yet this gift came from the hands of a busy woman with 9 children (she said) and probably many more grandchildren (she didn’t say). I stand amazed.

The only right thing to do is to emulate Cathy, passing along her inspiring love notes to other widows after benefiting from them myself. After all, our club has thousands of members, and every one of us needs a love note written by the Lord himself.

“The Lord your God is with you; He is a hero who saves you; He happily rejoices over you, renews you with His love, and celebrates over you with shouts of joy.” (Zephaniah 3:17)