Recently a family friend went to be with the Lord. She had been a friend of my family for 25 years or so. She had been a friend to both of my parents and to me. One of her hobbies was to make crochet dish cloths.

The summer before my mother died, Mother had asked our friend to make some dish cloths for my brothers and me for Christmas. My Mother could no longer crochet because of her arthritis. Not too long after my mother died, our friend called my Daddy to let him know about my Mother’s request and that the dish cloths were ready. He stopped by to pick them up and noticed that she had a Scrabble game set up where she had played with family the day before. He sat down and played a game with her. That was the beginning of a Scrabble friendship that lasted until he died. If it was Tuesday, it was Scrabble day. It was something my Daddy looked forward to. What a precious friendship between two people just wanting to play Scrabble. She had a Scrabble dictionary that my Daddy called the King James of Scrabble. I think she knew most every word in there. My Daddy didn’t challenge her very often. When she died, I began to wonder if she was in heaven playing Scrabble. Jesus told us:

“I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2b 

I just have to believe that her place has a Scrabble board. She and her husband had played at least 3 games a day for many, many years. When he died, there was a space of time that was empty. I am so thankful for the friendship that my Daddy and our friend had around a Scrabble board. They both looked forward to the game but also the friendship. I miss knowing that she is no longer here on this earth, but I know where she is and that I will see her again.

So many of the people that I love are in Heaven. I am so thankful for the Salvation we have through Jesus Christ and the knowledge that Heaven awaits believers after our last breath on this earth. 

I have no way of knowing if there is Scrabble in heaven, but if there is, I hope that my friend will always have a place to play her 7 letter words. I also hope that she has a triple letter square to play her Q and Z.  Maybe my Daddy could beat her in a game once or twice in Heaven. Probably not. That’s ok. He learned how to lose gracefully over the years. 

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the LORD.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV