Take the time...it matters

I've been pouring over old letters.  In the process I have discovered my memory is not very reliable. As I re-read these letters, memory brings me back to the past.


I am very thankful.  PEOPLE TOOK THE TIME and invested in me all these years.  All the good that has come out of me have come because these people understood the importance of taking the time and effort to communicate with people.  They invested in me, and they knew it mattered.


Let me explain...


I moved to Canada in 1990 to go to Prairie High School.  I was 15 years old and lived in a school dormitory.  Naturally, I experienced a lot of home sickness and back then my resources were very limited.  Letters were the main way of communicating with friends and family.


What surprised me this week as I pour over the letters I received from friends during those 3 years is this.  People wrote me.  In my journals I have recorded countless times how the highlight of my days was often finding letters from Peru in my mailbox.  I also read a few letters from my parents, reminding me it was expensive to send letters from Peru to Canada back then (still is!).  They were reminding me not to be disappointed if I didn't get letters because I couldn't expect some of my friends to be able to afford that.


Letters -- what are letters anyways?  Who takes the time do write them now?


But letters kept me going.  These were letters from people who took the time to write me, who took the time to go to the post office to send it to me, who used their money to take the bus to go to the post office...


These were not just cards that had all the right words...where I simply wrote "Dear..." and "Love, ..."  These people took the time to write their own messages to me.  They took the time to share their lives with me.  They took the time to encourage me to live a counter-cultural life.  They took the time to write scriptures to remind me of God's promises.  They took the time.


Three names stand out from the crowd:  America Lee, Alfredo Lee and Eva Romero.  Pouring through your letters was a reminder that God had appointed you to care for me from the distance back then.  I am ever so thankful you not only accepted God's appointment but that you did it out of love.  Your words on these letters speak louder than anything else.


You indeed were there for me when I most needed it.  I thank you today for the TIME to spent not only when I was in Peru as I grew up.  For the endless hours you spent teaching me at church, during fellowship times, or just simply the times you took me out.  You had little and yet you gave out so much more than you had.


And what impresses me is that you did not stop there.  You CONTINUED to mentor me in the distance.  Even after I left Peru to such a far away place, you did not stop caring.  You understood the need to continue caring.  When most people eventually lost touch, as it often happens to all of us, you persevered and the Lord used you.  I am forever thankful for that!


In one of your letters I am reminded of who am in Christ:

"...Eres una chica muy especial, pido a Dios te guie a tomar las decisiones correctas, recuerda que Dios quiere lo mejor para ti, y te va ha dar lo mejor no lo peor, El si se preocupa de veras por ti, los seres humanos muchas veces cambiamos en nuestras emociones, sentimientos y preferencias y muhcas veces en nuestras lealtades, que bueno es saber que Dios nunca cambia El sigue siendo siempre el mismo, Santo, Puro y Recto...y Veraz."

"You are a very special girl.  I plead to God that He may guide you to make the right choices.  Remember God wants the best for you and will give you the best, not the worst. He really worries about you.  We human beings often change our feelings, emotions and preferences and very often even our loyalties.  How awesome to know that God never changes and that He is the same Holy, Pure, Righteous and Truthful God"

...and this reminder to press on despite our circumstances:

"...reconozco que es duro estar sola lejos de nuestra familia que tanto amamos, pero gracias a Dios que tenemos un Espiritua Santo que esta presto a consolarnos.  Pienso que Dios te esta formando desde ahora para la vida de misiones no es facil verdad? mantente firme en lo que crees.  "Pero persiste tu en lo que has aprendido y te persuadiste, sabiendo de queien has aprendido" II Tim 3:14  No permitas que el enemigo comience a formar base en tu vida porque a veces no nos damos ni cuenta y en el momento menos pensado el enemigo ha tomado tal terreno de tu vida que seria dificil para ti destruir esa muralla"

"I can tell it is hard being alone so far away from the family we love but thanks to God we have a Holy Spirit who is ready to comfort us.  I think God is forming you from now on for a life in missions.  It's hard isn't it?  Stay firm in what you believe.  "continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it" 2Tim 3:14.  Don't let the enemy begin to take hold of your life.  Sometimes we do not realize it and at the least moment we expect the enemy has taken hold of our lives and then it would be difficult to destroy that wall"

As I pour over the letters you wrote me, I can't help but reflect on how I am conducting my life now.  These letters are over 20 years old.  I am now in a position to do what you did.  I must do the same.  It's a way to thank God for sending you to my life 20 plus years ago.


Thank you for reminding me to take time.  To be bold when I speak.  To speak the Truth in Love.  To write.  To pray.  To be committed to care for people despite any changes in life.


I hope you remember, America, Alfredo and Eva that your love mattered.  God used you.  God is still using the words you wrote to me today as I re-read these letters.  May this be an encouragement to you and others to continue to persevere...and to take time because it matters!