Christmas Cards

Friday, February 13, 2015

Friends....I know it is Valentines Day weekend....but I am still thinking about Christmas Cards.  One of my most favorite experiences of the Christmas season (other than spending it with my most favorite Moldovan Family) was receiving Christmas Cards.
If you are reading my blog, you know me- we may have gone to church together, worked together, or grew up together or something like that.   Well, you probably know that I love mail.  I mean I have always found it to be pretty thrilling to check the mailbox each day in hopes that there is something waiting for me....something with an envelope and my name written in ink pen, marker, pencil, or even crayon.  Something that was picked out just for me....something that someone took the time to write my name on and personalize.  It just makes me feel so special!  Every time I used to check the mailbox, I would have little flutters in my stomach and wonder....will today be the day that I get mail?  I know its silly.  Honestly, I didn't get personal mail that often...but, I always held out hope:)  I love ripping in to an envelope to find a funny card from a friend, or a note of encouragement, or a birthday invitation, or a birth announcement, or the big one....a CHRISTMAS CARD.  I have always loved checking our mailbox at Christmas....it is like mail JACKPOT time.  I always come rushing in with a big smile and a loud voice.... "BRIAN--- we have REAL mail!!!!".  Mail from a real person...not a machine or company wanting me to buy what their selling...but real mail.  When I open a card, I feel like that person is right there with me...I imagine them picking the card or invitation or whatever out and writing every name ...I can just feel the time and love they put in to it.  It is a good feeling.
We moved here in July, and until December we really had not received any mail.  Five Months without mail for someone like me seems like five years without mail.  Seriously.  Don't judge...it is just 100% my love language (after hugs of course).  I had resigned myself to the fact that we probablly wouldn't receive any Christmas cards this year because people would have to get a different, more expensive stamp and that would be out of their routine...and I was ok with that.  But, I was longing for at least one Christmas card. The first three weeks of December were mail-less.  I had decided that it was OK.  Some people never receive any mail....I had experienced a life full of mail...and this would just be a mail-less season....Don't laugh...that really happened in my head.  Mail is BIG.  OK? 
But, then...then the week before Christmas rolled in and with it came my new favorite little old guy. No-not Santa...our very old and very kind Russian mail man.  The week before Christmas he filled our little mailbox with six Christmas cards.  SIX!  It was so exciting...they were from new friends in England and the US and Brian's parents. It was pure joy for me!!  The week of Christmas was amazing--one of our sweet guests from Pennsylvania told her church how much I loved mail...and she had her friends and family send us Christmas Cards too!  Then the jackpot came....the coveted Christmas Family photo cards started arriving from friends and family in Alabama.  It was such sheer joy for me...several times I didn't even wait for Brian to open them...I was  like a child on Christmas morning.  I'm pretty sure my momma asked our family to send cards and handed out our address.  I loved it.  I loved it soo much...I felt like I was surrounded by every single sender-friends, family, and people who were praying for us.  They were all here. Our little kitchen door frame had every single card that we received taped to it (with Moldovan tape....so they fell a lot).  It was amazing...what was even better is that we received Christmas cards until February.  Some of them took three weeks to arrive...some took six.  Mail is interesting here...but it made each card even sweeter.  Every single sender...every single person....felt like a precious gift.  I treasured them.  They are all tucked away now, (all of them except the ones we received last week...I'm still enjoying them) but I will never EVER forget our first Christmas here and how God used so many people to encourage us and show us love through mail.  He used the postal service to remind us how very special He thinks we are....even if we had experienced a mail-less Christmas....He still loves us...and He still shows us that every single day in the beautiful faces of the girls and guys here.


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One Response to “Christmas Cards”

  1. I love the fact that you were flooded with mail. How exciting. I too love receiving hand written things...even if it is a wedding invitation....or a recipe request. Love it! We watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People the other night....and I thought of you!

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