Dear God,

This suddenly makes You so much more real to me.  Writing a letter, putting words on paper… I only do that with the people I love, the ones I can touch. Writing this letter makes me realize with a jolt… that You are so very real.  I spend so much time thinking about You, speaking to You (mostly in my mind… though I am learning to speak out loud.  Speaking out loud just makes You more real to me.  I’m not one to talk out loud to no one, after all).  I spend time talking with my kids, my husband, my friends, my parents… about You.  I have written about You so many times.  I wonder why I have never written to You?  I read what You have written to me.  I suppose You might enjoy a letter, too.  Real words about real love.

The words come a bit more slowly this way.  Funny how I am laboring to say just the right thing… hoping I will somehow impress You, make You love me more, see me for who I am.  The words I write… I want them to show You how well I can put words together, but I suddenly gather that You care more about how well I can put Your words together.  What have You told me in Your letters to me?  So many lessons, so much Fatherly advice, direction, instruction.  Love.  That’s it.  The message in all of Your letters.  Love.  You want me to love You, and You show me how… by loving me.  You are doing a much better job than I am.  Then there’s the other part… loving others… more than myself.  You, better job, again.  I really want to be more like You.

You have lovingly taken me along my path in life and picked me up when I failed ~ even when I didn’t know I was failing.  You pointed me in the right direction, again, gave me a pat on my back… words of encouragement… and Your love.  You gave me a most incredible husband, and are showing me how to get through the messy selfishness in marriage.  You gave me six kids!  That’s a lot of kids.  I never dreamed…

You gave me a desire to love my six pack of kids so much that I would place You directly in their sights.  This was all a bit foreign to me, but You nudged me along and whispered words of encouragement when I doubted.  You have touched me.

One night, while I was up too late… You opened my eyes.  You opened my eyes to small faces on a screen… after I had tucked my six small faces into their warm beds.  You opened my eyes to the need behind the young eyes.  A need I had pushed into the background of my mind ~ assuming someone out there would take care of them.  Somebody out there had to notice.  Suddenly I started to cry like I hadn’t cried in quite a while.  I realized I was the someone out there who needed to notice…

Their names are Elie and Myrlande.  They live in Haiti.  My kids were so excited when we printed out their pictures from the Compassion sponsor page that they went running to Daddy, as he walked in the door at the end of the day.  Two more kids!  I couldn’t believe the joy we felt.  It was surreal.  Like we had just reached out across the waters… and touched them.

We pray for them every day.  The greatest thing is… my little ones pray for them before I can even get the words out.  We have prayed for them especially now after Hurricane Isaac swept across Haiti.

Letters.  Writing letters.  I write to people I love, the ones I can touch.  How odd that I haven’t written to You before.  You are touching every part of my life, of my husband’s life, my children’s lives… Elie and Myrlande’s lives.  That’s it!  It’s how You want me to touch their lives!  You touch us as we touch each other… with love.  A love greater than that for ourselves.  The words are beginning to come more easily now…

You want us to love with more than words… more than speech.  You want us to love with action… with truth.

Thank you, God, for letting me come to You.  For blessing me.  For blessing my husband and my children.  Thank You for using us to bless.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

Thank you for Your words… thank you for loving us with your Word.

All my love,

1 John 3:18

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.