Two Pieces of Mail

My mailbox generally doesn't excite me much. I hate to say it, because mail gathering time is one of my favorite times of the day (ask me who is going to be upset if the Postal Service quits delivering on Saturdays??).  Most of the time I get a ton of junk mail, a stack of bills, and if I'm really lucky I get a magazine. I don't subscribe to many, so those really lucky days are few and far between.

Saturday, however, was a really really super lucky day...I opened up the mailbox to find not one, but TWO letters from my sponsored kids!!  And, both were from kids who have already written me once, so I'm really shocked to have received letters again so soon!

These letters were from sweet Florance in India, who is one of our correspondence children, and Mohamed, who was the first of our sponsored children.  Mohamed is just 4 years old, so his letters are still more or less form letters, with a little bit of information about his life tucked inside. This letter was super special from him, because it talked about how he used the Christmas gift we sent him. His family was able to buy some rice, some corn, a dress, and a ball. Bless his sweet heart, he asked me how my job is going!  I thought that was really cute. He also asked how my friends are doing, which is cute. His prayer request was for his family to have peace and good health. Wise requests for a four year old. Sweet Mohamed wants to be a policeman when he grows up.

My letter from Florance continues to show me what a joy she will be to correspond with. I sense in her an intelligence and a strength, and a joy that I hope grows and stays with her as she ages. It's hard to sense much through short letters that reveal fairly little, but there's something about her handwriting and her phrasing that brings those characteristics to mind. Of course, heaven help me if anyone ever makes any personality judgements based on MY handwriting, they'll all think I'm crazy... oh. wait. Maybe I am... 

Kho Kho

Anyway, Florance shares that she enjoys Kho-Kho, a local sport that I had to look up on Wikipedia, and I still don't understand. It appears to be some sort of a 12-person game of tag, and is apparently very popular in India. She also tells me she really likes curd rice, which is rice with Indian spices and yogurt mixed into it. The word "curd" threw me off a bit, but having read the description (thanks again, Wikipedia, what would I do without you?) it now sounds fabulously yummy (but I really like Indian food). She writes that her father is a mechanic and her mother is a tailor. This is interesting, as her profile information has her living with her father and her mother appeared to be out of the picture. So now it seems maybe she has some contact with her mother, after all. Her prayer request is that her community will be free of Dengue fever. 

Curd Rice

These sweet children really brought light into my day with their letters, which is proof positive that sponsorship is as much a gift to the sponsor as it is to the sponsored child. I hold my breath every time I head to the mailbox now in the hopes that I will have a letter waiting. I can only imagine the children at the projects around the world waiting with baited breath in the hopes that their sponsors have sent them some token from their lives--a letter, a photo, a sheet of stickers...any reminder of the world beyond the boundaries of poverty where dreams are allowed to grow, thrive, and sometimes even come true.

Being so excited to get mail from my kids reminds me of the importance of sending mail to my kids! It's so very important. I look forward to the mail....and I know they do too!

Blessings!