The Christmas Letter.

Some people hate them, some make fun of them. I spoke with a woman at the Post Office who had just mailed off her NINE page Christmas letter. I resisted the temptation for a long time. Too impersonal I thought. Corny. However each time a Christmas card arrived in the mail that contained a "Christmas Letter" I was really pleased. An added photo was a great bonus! In a world where distances prevent us from regular communication with friends and family and epically pre-facebook the Christmas letter was a great way to catch up with all the cousins and classmates and people you may not have seen or talked to for 20 years but still....it is nice to see their smiling face. If you have been sending me Christmas letters over the years, I still have them. Kept in a special (now over stuffed album) where from time to time I pull them out and see how you have grown and changed and aged...documented history of your life. The joys and sorrows the trips and weddings, the deaths and births..they are all there in your Christmas letter. I love Facebook and am amazed at how I have reconnected with so many from my past and delighted with the day in/day out interaction with my circle of friends and family. But you can't hold Facebook in your hands and read and remember.
Today I got a Christmas letter from a friend I met in 1980. We camped together at the Creation festival at Muddy Run in central PA. I was 24 yrs. old..Chris and I never lived near each other but for several years were always together at least that one week in June at the festival. Her daughter needing a place to get away for a time came to stay with my family..knitting our families in a tighter weave. Time and distance and Chris's family no longer coming to Creation did what one would expect. We drifted apart. But that time and distance did not change our love for each other and when we both found ourselves on Face Book we reconnected.
When the 'letter' arrived today I expected to see some crazy photo (like the one from her daughter's wedding where her whole family and the bridal party were dressed in roaring 20's garb...always an actress :) but instead of her smiling face I found myself looking at the latest photo of my daughter Gwenn and her husband Nick and all 11 kids they are raising in Haiti. I did a double take, turned over the envelope and then began to cry when I read the title "Thompson Advent conspiracy Letter" Instead of the normal things one might find in a typical 'Christmas Letter' this one was not about her family but about mine! She said
"When I asked the Lord what I could do in the world to make a difference this Advent/Christmas He inspired me to write this letter." She went on to share about the work my daughter is doing in Haiti and shared how to help with the challanges that they meet everyday in this broken country. I am crying as I write this. Honestly..the most selfless, beautiful greeting I could ever imagine! She spoke with graditude about her own family and the blessing they are for about two sentences. Then continued to tell the reader about child sponsorship and prayer support.
This letter will go in my Christmas letter album and it will stay very close in my heart.Feeling very thankful for "Christmas Letters."