You

I’ve been thinking about you all week. It started when I wrote about one of my daily frustrations, here in the Third World. I wrote to make you laugh, and really, I wrote to make me laugh.

Most days, I create these little comedies, in my head, out of the very things that frustrate me. For example, I often envision extra angels being dispatched from heaven, to keep me from making some very anti-missionary move. I have this whole scenario created in my mind and I start to laugh; then the moment when I was feeling so frustrated or whiny, or downright nasty, passes, replaced by humor. And it is so good to laugh.

I shared one of these moments with you, and you wrote me back. I felt awkward at first because you were supposed to laugh, not feel bad for me. But you had entered into the whole saga and you felt–for and with me!–all the things I felt before the humor kicked in. You encouraged me. You comforted me. And you made such a huge difference in the way I feel here. I don’t feel so far away from you.

I want you to pray for us. I want you to be able to pray for specific things here because you know what’s going on. I want you to know our frustrations and struggles, along with the joys of serving God. But, apart from your prayer, this week I discovered that I also covet the contact from you. Just seeing your name in the inbox or a “like” or comment on Facebook makes me smile. It buoys me. I found myself whispering a little “Thanks,” to God for you and blowing a kiss to God and you. It’s downright New Testament-like, this thinking of you and thanking God for every reminder of you.

 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:7 ESV)