Letters

Wanna know something that I've been doing this past fall?  Writing letters to a dear friend of mine - as a pen pal.  I write her once or twice a week and she writes back to me! 


That's amazing, huh?  Well, I guess not everyone is the pen pal type of person, but I always was.  I remember having pen pals from different countries in elementary school, and to this day since being away from home in Texas and India I have stayed in touch with close friends through letters.  I write letters at least once a month.  My grandpa Troyer does the same thing, he is an avid letter writer, an Amish man with friends all over the states, and does such a good job keeping up with them!  (In fact he says he won over my Grandmother who was in another state by his letter writing! ;). 





Some people don't like to write and the postal service definitely doesn't compete with our fast paced lives these days, however there is something special about it.


A lot of times I write to others just to let them know that I'm thinking about them, in a way that the meaningful touch is kept in tact where in email and Facebook and even text it has the opportunity to be lost.  I write Melissa to pour out my heart.  I decided that I needed a pen pal this fall while I was in Kolkata, India because it would be hard spiritually and I wouldn't have any acquaintances there.  Melissa is a dear friend and she speaks the same language spiritually, I asked her if she would commit to writing to me - I needed her!  I wrote her the day that I arrived in Kolkata and told her about all the smells and faces that colored the city, I wrote to her every time that I needed a friend to talk to, every time I needed to share my heart, every time my heart was overloaded. 


There wasn't an immediate response (in fact it took 2 wks for my first letter to get to her and 2 wks for me to get her response).  However my heart was not waiting in limbo at the response.  I knew that Meliss would understand and was in constant prayer for me.  Just writing it down and sending it to her did so much for me.


We've continued to write back and forth since I've come home to the States.  What a lovely friend.  Sometimes we don't need to busy our lives with constant action, immediate response, gratification, or emotional reactions.  Indeed quick access can actually make our lives more stressful.  We do have emotions though and need a way to understand and embrace them! 


Perhaps writing letters is a good idea for you?  Maybe you need to just go see that friend in person once every two weeks and pour your heart out - instead of just texting or FB!  See her!  Write her!  But do it well, and then your dear hear will rest!