Athe merciful

I witnessed a small miracle this morning at the local U.S. Post Office substation, not a place I generally think of as miraculous. There were a couple of people ahead of me with the two clerks on duty at the counter. One woman was mailing heavy packages, probably for a business, so that understandably took awhile. Another woman was being assisted step by step in listing the contents of her two packages, popcorn, drink mix and cookies, and calculating the exact weight. She obviously needed the help. In fact when the clerk asked if she could help by taping one of the packages, after a moment the clerk gently said, "let me do that." The miracle was not in the kindness of the people who work there. I have seen them in action often, and in spite of the rudeness they sometimes encounter, they are always polite and helpful. The miracle was that no one in the growing line behind me verbally complained while we were kept waiting. I wonder if they assumed, as I did, that the women who needed help was mailing a package to a soldier overseas. If so, then it was our way of supporting our troops, and their families, by our actions. It's nice to be reminded once in awhile that ordinary people can be nice folk, even at the post office when you least expect it.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

A walk back into the valley

I've been transcribing my journals from seminary with the thought of writing them up for a larger audience. So far I've only shared this with a good writer friend and our writing teacher, both of whom have been encouraging. I also thought perhaps I should continue the story after seminary to round it out, so I've been transcribing that time period today. That has been much harder as it's a darker story--at least initially. I underestimated how much the pain of that difficult time would echo through my being when I stepped back into that period of my life. I'm not at all sure that anyone else would be interested in reading what I wrote then. I certainly had no intention of sharing it with others at the time I wrote my honest and at times dismal ponderings in a journal. But perhaps just the exercise of going back through the story to see where I've been and how far I've come from that uncertain time is reason enough to slog through to the end, or more accurately the beginning of my current life. And it's good to rejoice in the knowledge that God has been faithful throughout my life, no matter my doubts and fears and anger. God is good, all the time, even when I don't necessarily recognize that goodness in my life.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue