“May 7
“I’m really not sure. I already feel like my church(es) are my extended family. I do everything from hugging Agnes and Eleanor down to bathroom maintenance (changing toilet paper rolls and even unclogging a toilet once).
“I suppose the area where I fall way short is with believers I don’t know. I rarely go to any nursing homes or to visit shut-ins, and I haven’t been to a mission since college (12 years).
“That sort of sojourn from my comfort zone was much easier when I was in the role of student with youth leaders leading the way.”
Dearest Rachel –
It is true that it’s so much more challenging to reach out to others when you’ve build your own circles that you run around in already. And when you are young, and not set in those circles (to say nothing of being led by someone else to make a difference in different ways), the sort of outreach to others does tend to be so much easier.
Still, the work that you’ve done cannot have gone unnoticed. And while there’s no additional credit towards heaven for the good that you do in His name, I’m sure that you’ve benefited from it regardless. I’m sure that you were greeted warmly by all three sisters – Agnes, Eleanor and I think it was Margaret who’d passed on earlier. And while we may not have gone out there as much in our later years, that’s not to say you didn’t make an impact; You probably had to have Isaac pointed out to you when he arrived suddenly a few months ago, but he had to come to Christ at camp, and your contributions there made that small difference toward his decision. Indeed, I’ve told Larry several times about how I can imagine you waiting for and welcoming all those kids that the camp reached out to – once their time comes. We just didn’t expect it to come so soon in Isaac’s case.
But that is the way things are; nobody forsaw what happened to him, any more than anyone expected what happened to you. But at least – partially thanks to you – he was prepared for the trip… of a lifetime.
Letters to Rachel 