Letters from the Ends of the Earth
Shawna (fictitious friend),
Life has been busy here. Perry decided to quit his extra job so he could focus on school and so we could have more time together. I really appreciated that. I am enjoying being involved in ministry with him. The first year was all about learning to work with children. We have over 100 kids every Wednesday night. Continue reading “Letter 05 – The Application”
The Wedding
Shortly after the proposal
Nancy: Perry I have a question for you. What are we going to do for the wedding? Ours will be the third wedding in my family this year and my parents will not be able to provide any help for me.You are going to school and my job pays very little. Where will we get the money for our wedding? And where we will we have the ceremony? The church I attend is a basement and your is huge and well, I don’t want to be married in either of them. Continue reading “Letter 04 – The Wedding”
Dear Journal
The day has arrived. Nancy gets to meet my parents. She will love my mom because they are so much alike. They love on people and their smiles light up whole rooms. Nancy is like a dream come true. She is like my mom in so many ways. They both play the piano and are both farmer’s daughters; but Nancy is so much more. It is hard to explain, but she has qualities I am only beginning to understand. Continue reading “letter 03 – The Proposal”
The format for these letters will vary. Sometimes it will be just one of us speaking and sometimes the letters will be a combination of thoughts and comments, or rather, a joint letter home so to speak. At the end of each letter there will be a comment or a question to allow all interested to comment and share questions, thoughts, or other insights. The goal is to learn together so we can encourage each other in the journey of carrying the gospel and love of God to the ends of the earth.
Please keep in mind that these letters and conversations are in a sense fictitious, they don’t actually exist. Yet at the same time contain real history. Continue reading “How the letters are being written”
Journal entry August 24, 1979
I think I may have found her. I wasn’t even looking and there she was and on the softball field of all places.
Just to give you some background information, I have been trying way too hard to find a wife. In fact, I have been a little desperate and, as a result, I have made a lot of mistakes in the process. Several times I thought I had found someone who shared my dream of being a missionary. A couple of times, in my desperation to have someone in my life, I forgot that dream and let my fear of not finding someone control my decisions.
The interesting thing is that I was not paying attention. Actually, I was simply not listening to God. I let myself get in the way and thought I could find someone and knew the best way to decide who I should marry. Continue reading “Letter 02 – Journal entry August 24, 1979”
Letter 1 A – Letter from Nancy
Topic – the Right Guy
August 24, 1979
Dear Diary,
I have been thinking a lot about my life and trying to understand why I kept bringing guys home to the farm. I think it was because I am looking for something in each of them that will tell me he was the right person for me and someone I could possibly marry.
I wonder sometimes if bringing them home was sort of a test to see how they would respond to the people I love and also how my family would respond to them. I also think it was about discovering if the young man would be able to understand who I am by learning something about where I grew up and my relationship with my parents and the rest of the family. Bringing them to the farm told me a lot about their character and what kind of person they were.
I have learned to watch my Dad and how he reacts to them. Continue reading “Letter 01 The Right Guy”