One of the most powerful things we can discover in this life is the reminders of God’s love expressed through the people who love us. Those reminders link us to our history and encourage us to do for others what that reminder gave to us.

In 1951, during the Korean War, my father worked in Takotna, Alaska as a contractor for the United States government building the Dew Line (Distant Early Warning) radar defense system. While in Alaska, my father cut off a piece of birch tree bark and made a postcard to send home to his young wife and me, his infant son. One note on the postcard was my father asking my mom to kiss their newborn son.

One of my earliest memories was standing with my mom on the tarmac in Oakland, California as my father’s returning flight disembarked and I saw my father. I still remember the joy of seeing my father’s face after his two-year absence.

Reminders of God’s love for us are what keep us connected to Him like a natural father’s expression of love etched on a piece of birch bark. The birch postcard my father sent home to my mother was postmarked in 1951. It still affirms my father’s love for me 73 years later. Reading the postcard today brings to memory the love my father had for my mom and me.

The Apostle Paul wrote about the kind of love that natural barriers like time and distance cannot erase, “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 38-39).

There are constant reminders of God’s love for us embedded in our lives. If we feel distant from His love, we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to see those reminders and hold onto them. This is what faith looks like. It is continuing to believe the truth about God’s unfailing love even when the circumstances of life make us feel distant from that love. Like it was when I discovered the old birch postcard this week and read its affirming message, it will keep us focused on the Lord and look forward to His return.