Letters from the Past

The angst of being stuck at home during Covid has manifested itself in the desire to sift through every closet and box in the house, purging all that is not needed. Maybe, you have had the same impulse.

This weekend I turned my attention to a trunk that has been stored in the garage for the past 26 years. It contained the letters and keepsakes Tammie and I brought into our marriage. Before I opened it, I would have bet that most of what it contained belonged to Tammie.  I would have lost money. As I began to pull the papers and trinkets from the trunk, I was surprised to find two thirds of the contents were mine.

Most of what I had kept were cards and letters. Many of the letters were from my first few years of college. Since we did not have texting or instant messaging, if you wanted to communicate, and did not want to run up your long-distance phone bill, you wrote a letter. The beauty of words written on paper is that they can be saved and rediscovered. What I discovered in reading these letters was what a treasure they are.

In particular, the letters from a person named Ginny were quite impactful. While I was navigating my first year of college away from home, she encouraged my faith, gave me sage advice on how to succeed at school and coached me on integrating into a new community. Several of the insights she shared in her letters were so internalized that I have heard myself offer them to others over the years, never remembering where they came from. Now I have been reminded. They came from Ginny.

Ginny only sent me four letters and never signed her last name. She is something of a mystery woman. While I know how we were connected, because of the content of the letters, I am struggling to remember exactly who she was. I have reached out to others who might be able to identify her. As of yet, they have not been able to help.

What she shares lets me know she is older than me. Her letters were written in the voice of a big sister, looking out for her little brother, encouraging his life of faith and affirming who he is. They are empowering letters that helped me find my footing in a new place. Such is the power of the gift of time it takes to write a letter, and the thoughtfulness that goes into composing it.

Eventually, Tammie joined me and started digging through her part of the pile. As we sorted, we would read sections of the letters out loud to one another. We were delighted to discover that most of the cards and notes were a lot like Ginny’s. They were from friends who were encouraging our spiritual growth and affirming who they knew us to be. The letters reminded us how intentional those relationships were in encouraging our life of faith and faithfulness.

As we reflected with one another on the goodness contained on those aged pieces of paper, we thought about how fortunate we were to be surrounded by these people as we were transitioning into adulthood. We were part of a community that was serious about rooting our hearts in the love of Christ and spurring one another on towards love and good deeds. Our lives are different because of it. We can clearly see how God used these people, and their words, to help build a foundation that has sustained us.

These letters are a reminder of just how important the people you surround yourself are and how impactful their words can be. It also encourages me to be mindful of the power of my own presence and words. I want to be the kind of person these people were to us.

I hope that one day, someone would be digging through their mementos and would find a few letters and notes I have written to them. I desire that as they pulled them out of the envelope, they would discover again words affirming who they are, and encouraging their life of faith. It would be wonderful if they were able to recognize how God used those words to help them see themselves and Him more clearly. I pray that knowledge would have helped to build a foundation in their lives. I am confident this could happen.  I have the evidence in the letters I rediscovered on Saturday.