Letters - Luxury or Essential?

I used to write long letters - the old-fashioned kind with postage stamps affixed - frequently.
I had cute stationary and fun cards and stickers and photos to include with my newsy letters.

That was back in the day when I went to bed at 10:30 pm and didn't get up till 6 or 7 am. That was back in the day when the only event I had going on for the week was a family outing that was written on the family calendar. That was back in the day when I read books just because I wanted to and not because I couldn't complete the most urgent project without learning this information. That was before I knew how to send an email, and definitely before the days of having 100 emails to reply to in a day.

Going to the mailbox was the highlight of the day. There was almost always a letter waiting there for me, too. It would be full of news, sometimes pictures and newspaper clippings or a tea bag to add to the fun.

These days, I still check the mail box occasionally when I'm home. But usually the only thing addressed to me is junk mail, a catalog, or another bill from the FoMM attorneys... Sometimes I wonder if that means I'm an adult now?

But letters are still ... um, just so deliciously good. I don't really care if it's written on beautiful stationary, or if it's a long newsy email from a friend or cousin who I haven't talked to in a long time. It's just good to hear all about another person's life and loves and battles.

I got one of those yesterday. All nine wonderful pages to be savored and re-read and thought over often... detailing life's struggles and questions, funny anecdotes about people I know that I'm sad to have missed seeing, and a hundred million other things that kept me awake thinking till late last night.

When society is too busy to write letters, we miss out on so much that we don't even know we're missing. A connection with a real human being - a piece of elegant communication to be saved and savored and stuck in a shoe box to be re-read decades down the road.

Spring Break!

This past week has been lovely...Maybe not weather-wise, but it's been a time of refreshing for my heart.

Typically, when the legislators take a week off at the Capitol for Spring Break, I go home and work harder than ever. Making sure that everything is falling in place with our bill for the day they get back to the Capitol. Last year, Spring Break was one of the craziest, most hectic weeks around our house. So, I didn't expect much of a vacation this year either. I was pleasantly surprised.

I went home with our bill in a stalemate situation and there wasn't a lot I could do about moving it. But I still had hundreds of emails that I had been placing in various folders to deal with as soon as I had a chance. And I needed to update our database, our email alert list... We needed to raise money, and a lot of it fast, to pay our legal bills that never stop coming.
Needless to say, I had more than a full week of work cut out for me.

I'm so glad that sometimes God has other plans for our days than we do. He turned my week's plans upside down in a flash when the rain and flooding hit Missouri on Tuesday. I soon found myself with no internet. And it's been that way all week, till this evening.
I loved every minute of it. This year, Spring Break really was Spring Break. I didn't spend the week on the phone and in front of the computer.

I did laundry, washed dishes, cooked dinner with my sisters, and got to spend the evenings laughing and talking with my family instead of staring at a computer screen. I've discovered just how much I miss my old life... I have many times wished that I could have it back, but I didn't realize how wonderful it was till this week. : )

Now, as I prepare to head off to the Capitol in the morning again, I will cherish the small moments that I do have before I leave, and I will remember that everything God does is good. Not because I like it, but because I can trust Him to know more than I do what's good for me!

Life is good.
God is merciful.
I am blessed!

A Year in Review, part 1

As the month of December closes out, I plan to give you a glimpse of my last year in pictures. Unfortunately, some things weren't documented with the camera, and will have to live on only in memory....

The year started out with a New Year's Party at the Voeller's house with nearly everyone from our church. Sadly, for us, the Voeller family moved to Texas about a week ago. We will miss them so much!















We also met one of our new neighbors in January, and she and her four little children began showing up at our house nearly every day. They quickly learned that we would read them stories, play with them, feed them dinner and so on, and their mom said that they would beg to come over all day long until she relented. So, for several months, little children were underfoot nearly every afternoon. We grew as the days went by, and I think (hope) we taught them a few things about loving each other and being kind before they moved on. We've never seen them again, but hope that the couple months they spent here gave them a glimpse of Jesus!
















My friend, Suzanne, had an old-fashioned ladies' tea to celebrate her 16th birthday. She asked everyone to come in full costume. My mom, sisters, and I all went... Suzanne is a very special young lady who we've known since she was 7.




















Of course, my sisters were delighted to have a reason to wear their dress-up clothes
and hoop skirts!




















I think Jemima had more fun fixing my hair than I had wearing it! The dried flowers kept crumbling, but it was really pretty. : )




















And, lastly, the whole gaggle of girls at the party. Yes, there was a LOT of giggling!