I have a lot of letters that my mom, and my dad, but mostly my mom wrote me in my life. She wrote while I was in college, when I moved away the first time to Kansas, then to Dallas and then to Chicago. Even though calling was easy, and later even pretty inexpensive—there was just something about a letter that made it special and meaningful. You can’t really save a phone call, but letters can be kept and reread which is something I did a lot. In fact, I got to where I would hang some of these letters on the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I would see them every time I opened the doors—though I don’t read them each time, just seeing them hanging in the cabinet is a gentle reminder that someone cares about me, someone is praying, and someone is offering some words of wisdom.
My mom often added what I call words of wisdom to every letter she sent. Sometimes a bible verse reference, a quote from a devotional, or words from someone famous that touched her heart and seemed like the right message for the moment. She would always tell me, “I wish I had my own smart words, but since I don’t here is something that comforted me” then she would add in those words or bible reference or occasional joke. However, I thought my mom had many great words of wisdom to pass on. In fact, I often tell a story and it starts with—“my mother always said. .” followed by advice that I attribute to my mom—whether she was the originator or not—in my memory she gave the advice and somehow made it her own, made it meaningful and it always brought me comfort in that moment of my life.
One of my favorite pieces of advice seemed a little salty, but it is something I have quoted and offered to others a hundred times over. When a friend or coworker or someone in life treated me poorly she would say, “well you know, they can’t send you to heaven, they can’t send you to hell, though they might want to (and this is where we’d pause and chuckle), they don’t buy your groceries or pay your rent so don’t worry about it, things will be okay.” I think the best way to sum that up is –put things in perspective. We worry about a lot that probably won’t hurt too long or maybe even come to pass.
Another thing she would always say was not a direct quote from the bible, but the sentiment is in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, she would say, “this too shall pass,” a good reminder of the impermanence of life, the good times and the bad times won’t last forever.
The best advice always seems to come back to me at the exact time I need it, and occasionally I can even pass it on to my child, and I say, “your granny always said” followed by a few words that I remember my mom telling me. When I need some good advice now or when I can’t remember something that I think will help someone else, I just open one of my cabinet doors and read one of the sweet letters from long ago.
My momma always said, “There are usually good things on the other side of the door, so don’t be afraid to open them and walk on out.”
-Lori Hall, Executive Director of Missions
