Dearest Elvirita,
Thank you for loving my team and I so well. I know my parents are back at home, with a few worries in their head even though they know I’m capable. I imagine there are times when they wonder if I’m eating well and who is there to give me a hug when I need one. Yet, you are the embodiment of the reassurance they need. You have taken me in, along with my team, and shown me the unconditional love of a mother.
I’ve watched you stand in the door frame and laugh at us as we chase each other with the hose in the backyard. I’ve heard of the spontaneous late night pizza you ordered for some of the team, and enjoyed on the floor. I’ve been embraced by you when you see I need of a hug, even before I speak. You’ve brought in the best kind of lotion for all of our sunburned and peeling shoulders. You’ve spent the afternoon with just us girls out for ice cream. You’ve taken the kids inside so we could have the kiddy pool to ourselves, because you know we want to play just as much as they do.
The most stunning and awe-inspiring thing, by far, I’ve seen has been in your tears. I watch sorrow and pain seep off of your face as easily and gracefully as joy does. I see the emotion wash over your face as you watch all the items in your house be sold, and I’ve seen you say goodbye to your dearest friends with eloquent words and eyes spilling with tears. You give yourself permission to feel. You don’t let the world invoke shame for your emotions; I’ve never seen anyone embrace Ecclesiastes 3:1,3-4 better than you.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”
You lead with passion and you lead with love. You say the things that need to be said. You don’t try to be stronger than you are, in that, becoming one of the strongest people there are. You are the pastor’s wife, you are the mother of two young children, you invite any and everyone into your house, you regularly host teams of missionaries. You cook, you clean, you hug, you pray, you fill kiddy pools. You live with a servant’s heart. You give, and you give out of overflow from the Lord.
So thank you, thank you for giving me permission to feel deeply and to show it. Thank you for showing me what it means to continue to pour out and serve even when you’re having a hard day. Thank you for being an example of balance and strength. Thank you for giving me permission to be messy. Thank you for loving well. Thank you for living in a way that brings Christ into every space you enter.
Love,
Melanie
