Beyond Cards and Letters

Inspired by an uncle who wrote a book "Today Is All You Have" was dying of cancer as he penned simple yet encouraging words. My uncle was a physician, dying, and yet wanted to continue to share what was important on his heart. Another book I had read some years earlier, The Right To Write truly liberated me with a new found freedom to express myself. Now the challenge was what to write and how to go about it.

My "project" started out writing a legacy for my grandkids. It is important to let them know the family and background that they might not ever know, to let them share in the stories, the ups and downs of what life was really like. I believe that is an inborn instinct in all of us. I was sixty before I got my first computer. Like Moses, it was never too late to start with something new. My hubby and family had decided that since I was always clunking away on an old typewriter and having to always be changing the messy ribbons that I deserved something a bit more modern. Imagine my delight when they bought me a computer!

Like anything new, it took a while to figure some of it out, but eventually I got the hang of it, and was so glad that others would give me the time and help to learn. Well, one thing led to another and I got on the Internet. I met a woman by the name of Pastor Gail who received prayer requests and people who just needed encouragement. At the time I was sending out cards that I made. We joined in the work for the Lord. I started answering emails for her, became a prayer warrior, and making some of the best friends you could meet in such a strange way.

One woman asked if I would write a letter to her sister. She had suffered a severe stroke, and was now dying of cancer. Most of her friends and previous co-workers ignored her. The sister asked that I send her sister a letter, so I did. I found through the glimpses of what she would share that she loved her cat. One of my hobbies is that of photography and then I make cards. Then of all things, God guided my hands to watercolor. These specialized cards were sent out to many people. For this dear woman, I started to clip out of magazines or ads every cat I could find and send them to her along with a note. I received a letter one day thanking me for sending her sister encouragement during those years of her dying. It had made a difference for both of them.

When Susan asked me to send her a story, all I could think about is how much I love people in general, not looking at who, what, or anything about them; they are human just as I am, created by the same God and with a purpose. I have illness and depressions just like everybody, but when I reach out to somebody else, it lessens the thoughts about what I am experiencing. I usually wear my heart on my shirtsleeve; I can cry and smile with whatever you're going through. My greatest desire is to see the Lord face-to-face, and to encourage those on the earth while we are all still here. How I demonstrate my love of Christ is remembering where I came from, those who inspired me to reach higher, to encourage others through the skills and gifts that God has given me.

I pray that you are encouraged today to try something new, and speak a word of kindness to others, especially those who are suffering and may have become part of the forgotten living.

Carol Ann