In the last two days, I’ve really gotten to know this one family. I know the personalities of all their kids. I know about the struggles and victories they’ve experienced while living in Asia. I know what their major prayer requests and concerns are, and also how God has provided for them and challenged them over the years. I know their birthdays, their favorite things, and their heart-level struggles. I know what makes them laugh because I have a pretty good grasp on their sense of humor, and I know what makes them cry because I’ve heard the stories that make them tear up. I really know this family.
I’ve never actually met them. Or talked to them. Or had any kind of interaction with them at all.
I have, however, read roughly 70 of their newsletters.
In an effort to do thorough research for a story I want to write on this family and their ministry, I sat down at my computer and have done little else for the last two days than read their newsletters, rejoice with their victories, cry with their hurts, watch their kids grow up, look forward in anticipation with them at their futures, laugh at their stories, and generally bond with this family a billion miles away. (I hyperbole – more like a million miles.)
So, yes, it’s a little creepy that I’m so attached to them, and that I might know more about them than their own grandparents. But, in another sense, I feel an overwhelming sense of humility and joy. Because I know that in a small way, I’m connected to them and to their amazing ministry in Asia. How did I get so lucky to get the kind of job where I have access to the front rows of what God is doing all over the world? I get to spend two days reading about the lives of honest, obedient followers of Christ whose major goal is that people would know the hope and salvation of God, and that His name would be glorified in all parts of the world.
And maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll get to talk with them (and not just newsletter stalk them). And if I’m really lucky, I’ll get to write their story.