Letter #3: The Letter W

"I'm writing you guys a letter on my blog."
"Really? That's nice of you. Write 'w'. I really like the letter w."
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Here it is. Letter #3. It's not just "w", but to keep from disappointing, I'll try to incorporate it as much as I can.

You both are tenderly dear to my heart. Never have I loved and appreciated a set of adults as if they were my own parents. Until I knew you two. You've slowly weaved yourselves into the tapestry of my heart, causing me to see evidence of your influence scattered all throughout my life.

If we're honest, it's more than just influence. You've changed just about everything.

Meeting you has brightened my skies and warmed my heart. Your love for each other isn't like anything I've ever seen. It's a friendship founded on a hope and an understanding that plainly is sourced by walking with Christ. Your intimacy with Him radiates acutely. It's sloshed over into my life and has softened my heart. Knowing you has refocused my spirit on lovelier things.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

When I think of you, I think of that verse. Knowing you has taught me to dwell on those things. You've taken the time to inject truth into my life, and it's shattered a lot of lies. I've seen you value the just instead of accepting the easy norms of injustice. It has inspired me. Your emphasis on a pure, unclouded, grace-filled worldview has entirely reshaped mine. And the joy you both find in valuing lovely things has opened my eyes to them. By the way you handle yourselves, I've learned to thank God for the commendable things in any circumstance. I've seen you look for the excellence, the praiseworthy facets of whatever you're facing. Even by simply experiencing the way you live, I have found that the lenses of my worldview have been wiped of any sordid remains of hopelessness.

I've learned a lot from you, but influence isn't derived from erudition. Your witness bears testimony not to a wealth of knowledge and experience, but to an intimate reliance on Christ. And I think it's safe to say that your knowledge and experience has been elicited by Christ's leading. He's drawn that out of you two, and he's implanted it into my heart. Focusing the lens further out, he placed you here, in my life. And the wisdom you have shared has been largely witnessed rather than taught. You've rarely directly instructed me. Your most potent teaching is just the way you live. Your example has evidenced Christ more than anything else. 

Nine months or so ago, I was unashamedly parsimonious with the currency of grace. Stingy to spend it, stingy to redeem it, afraid that I hadn't earned it. But then I saw you two, and the way you live. You live drenched in grace. Saved by grace, walking in grace, dispensing grace, with a mindset of grace. Seeing that has revolutionized my understanding of Christ, of love, of hope, of eternity. Thanks for being who you are, and most importantly, for being shaped by the grace of God.

I love you two dearly. I pray I get to experience God's hand alongside you both forever. It would bless my soul just as much as it already has. 

(Final "w" count of this letter: 56.)

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