Happy Birthday.
Welcome to May! Our theme for this month is: Reflection. We have so much to look back on and even more to look forward to. We may be tired and counting down until summer, but I hope we also feel fulfilled. That is my goal for us in May - that we would invite space to reflect on what has passed in order to create intentional moments in the future.
Today, I’m reflecting on someone very special to me. When I was growing up, I became friends with a wonderful woman named Ethel. Ethel was in her seventies when we started going out for lunches and treats. She became another grandparent to me. When I was in middle school and moved to another town, we wrote letters back and forth to each other. She would always include a verse and tell me she was praying for me. My faithful Ethel.
Through high school and college, I would visit Ethel as often as I could. She was thrilled I had decided to be a teacher because that was her profession as well. She would excitedly provide nuggets of wisdom like, “I never had any behavior issues in the classroom. But you know, I’d go out and play with them during recess, so I think that’s why. They knew when it was time to play and when it was time to work.”
When Ethel turned ninety, I gave her a blank journal. I asked her to write in it for me and return it whenever it was filled. My faithful friend did just that. A few years later, a worn and loved journal came back to me. I didn’t read a word of it, but instead, carefully placed it on my bookshelf for the right time.
We continued to write letters back and forth, but eventually, fewer and fewer arrived from her. The day Ethel passed away, at the age of ninety-nine, I went to my bookshelf and held her journal. I felt her warmth, opened it, and began to read her words. To this day, I have not finished reading her collection of wisdom and love. I know I will still need her letters, her words of faith, and her comfort. Ethel was a faithful teacher, friend, and disciple. Today is Ethel’s birthday, and by her example, I hope each day I am becoming more faithful to those who need it the most.
