I got a letter in the mail today.

I received an actual handwritten letter in the mail today. I literally did a little jump for joy when I saw it in my mailbox. Getting a letter in the mail is awesome partly because it is so rare nowadays and partly because it seems so much more personal than an email or a text. I wish more people would write me letters. It seems like a lost art. Whenever I watch Pride and Prejudice or read a book set in the 1800s, part of me wishes the art of penning a letter would come back in style. *sigh* I suppose our culture moves too quickly for snail mail in these fast-paced modern times.  

A few months ago, before I made the great move overland to Georgia, I decided to write a letter to someone. I have never met this person, but I care about her a great deal. I send this person cards on her birthday and on holidays. I contribute to her physical and mental well-being, so I decided to develop the emotional side of our relationship by writing a personal letter. This person lives on the other side of the ocean which means letters are few and far between, but it's all worth it when I open the mailbox and see that thin envelope lying there just full of possibilities.

The letter has traveled all the way from Uganda. The author is a 15 year old girl named Jillian. She is one of the kids I sponsor through World Vision. I love that though we have never met, we can still touch each other's lives. I love knowing that I can make a difference in this girl's life though she lives on another continent. I love receiving letters and drawings from Jillian that reveal, bit by bit, who she is and what's important to her. I would love to travel to Uganda someday so we might meet face to face. I pray we do so that I can look into her beautiful brown eyes and tell her how much she means to me and how she has changed my life for the better.

But right now, I have a letter to read over again to absorb everything it has to tell me about this young girl from Uganda so that I might write a letter back that tells her more about this young woman from America. I'm so glad I got a letter in the mail today.