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Greetings from Linda and Brother Dan
Many of you know our daughter, Melanie. She has worked at LWR for many years. With two elementary age children with very busy schedules, her 10 hour work days were becoming a burden. So she has resigned from LWR to devote more time to family and general sanity. She is sorry to go and they are sorry to lose her, but family takes priority. She wrote this to her colleagues and partners she has worked with worldwide. We thought you would like to read this.
Friends,
It’s hard to believe that my time at LWR and Corus has come to a close. After nearly 16 years, this organization, its mission, our neighbors around the world, and each of you have become indelibly marked on my life and my spirit. As I’ve been reflecting on how to craft this message today, I’ve been overcome with gratitude. So please indulge me in a bit of a recitation to that end!
In Gratitude
For the Work,
the break-your-heart-light-your-life-capital-W-WORK,
that brings us together and keeps us moving forward,
I am grateful.
For the work,
the tedious-mind-numbing-aggravating-repetitive-lowercase-w-work
that sometimes feels like a paycheck
I’m less delighted.
but still grateful
For the stunning world –
with beautiful, creative, determined, resilient,
light-up-the-room smiling people –
and for the chance to meet so many of them
I am deeply grateful.
For the blue-green waters of the Philippines
the acres of bright sunflowers, their faces turning toward the sun, in Tanzania
the sun-warmed avocados and glass-bottled Coke in Haiti
and the lush green sweeps of mountain forests in Thailand
I am grateful.
For the strength and sureness of Filipino colleagues
rowing miles in low-slung boats to meet the fishery farmers
just after dawn
(and their delight at watching the Americans do their best to try the durian)
For the dedication of Tanzanian partners finding ways
to get life-transforming orthopedic surgery to hurting children
(and their Sunday church offering gift of an entire sugarcane
purchased for the visitors to enjoy after service)
For the joy of Haitian school children
hungry to learn
eyes riveted to their teacher under a tarp
surrounded by rubble
(and their grins, posing Flat Sander in silly places,
to be returned to a
US school child afterward)
For the unwavering hope and
determination of
Burmese refugee women in spare huts in Thailand
(and the peals of laughter
among women, no common language necessary
to lock eyes and recognize
Spirit and Spirit)
I am awe-struck, humbled, and grateful.
For the church spires that rise out of cornfields in Illinois,
casting comforting shadows over quilters tucked into their quilting houses
the energetic middle and high school students who happily load
50 pound boxes of School Kits into trucks as though they are Lego bricks
the nonagenarians who make a quilt top a day, spread out
on their own modest beds at home, finished in time for bed each evening
the dedicated pastors who shepherd their congregations
to life-giving, world-shrinking relationships beyond their own doors
the five-year-old who asks his friends to bring supplies for Personal Care Kits
to his birthday party instead of gifts
the humble Iowa school teacher, farmer’s widow, who loved the work
her work
of LWR so much that she quietly left $4m in her will
I am grateful.
For the chance
when the tsunami crashes down
or a conflict erupts
or the earth shatters
or the land catches on apocalyptic, devastating fire
to play a small role in bringing
help
healing
hope
to our neighbors
I am profoundly grateful.
For you.
For bringing your full humanity to the Work and the work
For believing fiercely in the divine dignity of neighbors near and far
For drawing out the joy of donors whose lives find meaning in partnership
For finding ways, large and small, to make our work, work better
For taking partially formed ideas and turning them into masterpieces that tell the truth with stunning clarity
For seeing a messy sketch on a roughly folded piece of paper – through a computer screen – and designing gorgeous pieces
For the utmost care, attention, and concern paid to each gift, every note, each call
For caring, too, about each other
And about me
I will be inspired and grateful always.
As a wise friend reminded my children recently, even if you move physically, you don’t move away from friends. I am sure our paths will cross again (and that we will make sure they do!) in this small, interconnected world. I look forward to those moments, planned and delightfully surprising!
With all my heart and gratitude,
Melanie
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