An Invitation

As we sat on the floor this week sticking labels and stamps on envelopes, I joked with Dave that it felt like we were sending out wedding invitations all over again. The thought came back to me as I was stuffing the letters into the blue slot at the post office yesterday. Actually, this whole thing of sending out support letters is a lot more like wedding invitations than I first realized. I still remember how Dave and I (eight years ago) made lists of who to send invitations to. And then we added to the lists and then we added some more. We were excited to have them a part of the ceremony, but more than that we wanted the people we knew well and loved to be a part of this new life we were beginning together. And the wedding was just that--a beginning. That ceremony was a mere 25 minutes, but this marriage is still going strong!! So it is with support letters for this new missionary life we are starting. The leg-work of writing the letter and taking the picture and labeling the envelopes is just the beginning. As we stuck each address on an envelope, we talked about and prayed for the people who would receive it. We are excited for people to not just hear about what God is doing, but we want the people who know and love us to be a part of this journey and be blessed by what God does. In my little logistical mind that loves checking things off lists, it was great to see the stacks of letters stuffed and to seal them up and to mail them off. But in my heart that is still learning to trust God, it was a big week of faith. Believing that God will provide, realizing this is His journey that we are on, releasing my drive to work it all out, and trusting the US postal service to deliver letters...that was the real work of this week! We hope you read the letter and enjoy the picture. But we pray God shows you how to trust Him more and follow Him deeper. It's harder to check off those kind of boxes, but that's the kind of stuff that really matters.