Have you ever gotten a gift, Christmas, birthday or
otherwise, that left you speechless? One where you sat there, holding it,
thinking: I can’t believe they put this much time, effort and thought into
something for me! Well, I got one
such gift this year and I have been waiting to write this post to thank
everyone who was involved. Let me explain…
I was not able to go home for Christmas this year to be with
family, but that was made better by the prospect of spending it with old family
friends in Wales. I would have time to rest, relax, do absolutely nothing,
travel, watching Downton Abbey, walk on castle walls, eat real fish and chips (which I have missed since going to Ireland a
few years ago), work on puzzles, play games, meet lots of new people, and
celebrate Christmas and the new year. Anticipation of all those things (and
probably some denial of how much I would actually miss being home) was making
me very excited for break.
Well, it was the day after my amazingly wonderful co-RA,
Megan, had returned to the States. I came down the stairs of our house and
happened to glance at the mailboxes on the wall and to my surprised there was a
thick, envelope sized, purple package in mine.
Curiously, I opened it up and out fell a big pile of colorful envelopes with dates on them starting on the 19th of December, but there was one that said “Open Immediately”. The note inside was from Megan and it explained that I would get to open one letter every day of break until the 1st of January. I was thrilled! I love notes and Megan is wonderful at writing encouraging words, but I had no idea how great this gift was going to get.
The first six days were notes from Megan. On Christmas Eve, the sixth day, I opened my Facebook and found an additional
message from Megan. It contained a forwarded message from a dear friend from
college. I was utterly confused how Megan was forwarding me a message from this
person since I couldn’t think of any connections between them. But the
wonderful surprises were just getting started! On Christmas my letter was from
my parents and brothers, the day after that was from a dear uncle, and then a
cousin, and then another friend, and then another, and another!!! I was more
and more excited every day to find out who that day’s note was from.
I want to thank all of you who took part in this gift to me!
You have no idea how God used your words to encourage me every day. There were
days when there was something bothering me and then I would open my note and
you had written EXACTLY what I needed to hear. This was the gift that just kept
on giving every day, making me feel close to home and not a continent away.
Thank you all for this wonderful Christmas surprise! Your love was so tangible in
those letters and I love you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
p.s. I also want to thank those of you who had sent letters to me while I was away. I loved getting all your Christmas cards and pictures!
