Her Last Letter

Do not talk much about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring.

Dear Pen Pal . . .

My pen wobbled to a stop as I realized I didn’t know how to proceed, didn’t know what to say next. As unshed tears obscured the pretty stationery I’d bought just for this purpose, I laid down my pen and sat back. Lord, how many more letters do I get?

Thirteen years older than my dad, Aunt Claire was struggling with her health, but the terminal diagnosis and the news that she wouldn’t be returning to her cozy townhome made this letter matter more than all of the silly, nattering letters we’d been exchanging for years—letters filled with our respective rambling scrawls, sharing tidbits of memories or small, funny moments in our ordinary lives.

The tears started in earnest when I realized I’d likely received the last of Claire’s letters, no matter how many more of mine might zip through the mail. In an era of texting and emails, I had learned to savor the envelopes bearing her name, setting her letters aside to be read as I sipped my tea, taking a quiet moment to linger over the pages and her stories. We’d agreed that we were kindred spirits: women who loved Jesus, who loved the same people, and who—despite the age difference—physically resembled each other so closely that we could be mother and daughter instead of aunt and niece.

Thank you, Lord, for the time we’ve had, for the warmth and laughter we’ve brought to one another. Thank you for slowing me down, for impressing upon me the importance of writing these letters when I had been sporadic, for giving me this precious friendship. Help me to write the letter Aunt Claire needs at this moment.

Having breathed that prayer, I picked up my pen and began to write.

We aren’t promised tomorrow, which makes appreciating yesterday and today all the more important. And yet so much of our lives is consumed with tomorrow—worrying, planning, anticipating—that we neglect to be fully present, now. God knows this and asks us to release tomorrow to him. Today is the day we have. The question is, What will we do with it?

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Seek to be intentionally present, and look for joy—the kind you can bring to others as well as what God is gifting to you.