A TREASURE in my mailbox

Who in this world doesn't enjoy going to their mailbox??? OK...wait a minute....maybe there are many out there....OK....maybe millions out there, who DON'T enjoy going to their mailbox because of bills etc. BUT...this is one woman who LOVES going to my mailbox everyday to see what treasure might await me there. Somewhere in the deep weird recesses of my mind, I always just knew that out there in that box one day I would find some long lost check for millions of dollars and I could already picture myself racing around like a lunatic trying to decide what to do with it first! I guess as I got older and the bubble finally burst and I realized there wasn't ever going to be a million dollar check in that tiny metal box ever...not ever...I gave up the dream and settled for the joy that junk mail served me, as well as an occasional card from a well-wisher. Letters are so few and far between anymore what with emailing that a real, old-timey, paper and pen letter brings me the greatest of joy and serenity. What a novel idea that someone would take the time to pick up a pen and accompany that with a piece of paper and write a hand-written note to someone. How novel! (Yes, there's a bit of sarcasm there in case you hadn't noticed!)

Anyway...today I made my daily trek to the mailbox and what lay in the darkness inside brought the greatest of joy to my heart! Right there, on the top of the stack was a strange looking envelope. Immediately my eyes scoured the envelope for who the sender was or any other information I could find. And then, I saw it.......
INDIA!!! WHAT????.....A LETTER FROM INDIA!!!!! WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD BE WRITING ME FROM INDIA???? Quickly, but carefully, my finger slip open the sealed envelope to see what was hidden inside. I stopped in the yard, layed the rest of the mail on the car and stopped dead in my tracks as I read...
"Hello and Greetings from Orissa in the state of India. I am Willson John Nag and I thank you so much for loving Christmas gift you send to me." OH MY GOSH....THE CHRISTMAS SHOEBOX DARREL AND I SENT........IT WAS A LETTER FROM A YOUNG MAN WHO HAD GOTTEN OUR SHOEBOX ALL THE WAY IN INDIA!!!! I nearly cried as I read the rest of his broken English as he did his best to share his heart with us. He said he prays for us and keeps our picture in the middle of his family! He thanks us for the gifts and asks us to pray for him.

My heart soared from Macclenny, Florida, all the way to Orissa, India! This is the first time that anyone responded from all the shoeboxes we've sent! To think that in a far away land a young boy wanted to reach out to us and thank us for our kindness blesses the socks right off my feet and the red dyed hair right off my scalp!!

Today, I found a treasure in my mailbox and I'll never be the same. This treasure took months to arrive and traveled oceans to get here, just so someone could say a simple "thank you." Now that my friends, is what we wait for all our lives and that, my friends truly IS a TREASURE that money can't buy. Who needs millions when a treasure like this arrives in your mailbox? Not me my friend. THIS treasure will last a lifetime....the other would have been spent within the week!

Thanks God...thanks for the "thank you" I received today....for the pen and paper "thank you" that changed my life and brought great joy to my whole family. You are a good, good God. You are certainly an incredible God. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the treasure you lavished on me today. My heart is full.