Letter #11/30- Someone Deceased

Dear Deceased,

I never had a chance to meet you because you died of a heart attack about a year after my parents married. I try to think what it would be like to lose my father at 26, like my dad did, and it seems unbearable. Your wife, though widowed in her early fifties, never remarried. So, you were either a really fabulous husband, or a really terrible one. (Wow, I can't even really make a joke because I don't know if you had a sense of humor.) But, from what I know, you weren't terrible. It's hard to form a picture of who you were. I know that you were hard working, served in the armed forces in Hawaii and loved to camp. You enjoyed a cold beer and you married Gramacita, so you must have been able to hold your own. Maybe you were a quiet, gentle man to balance her matriarchy. It would be nice to get to know you "straight from the horses' mouth" as they would say in your generation.

II'm uncertain how to feel about the man who could have been my Grandpa. What would I have called you? Though April, your first granddaughter, was born 6 months before me so she probably would have named you. Since my mom's dad died when I was 8, I never had the experience of a grandfather in my life. I don't really know what I'm missing I suppose, but I do wish that we could sit down and talk about your life, your experiences and your insights. I wish I could tell you about Jesus and ask that you consider giving him your life so we could always talk in heaven. It would just be nice to share a beer with my abeulo, and tell you it was nice to finally meet you.

Love, Lauren

Letter #10/30- Someone You Don't Talk to As Much As You'd Like

Dear Friend I Don't Talk to As Much As I'd Like,

Although there are many, many people that could fit this letter, I write to you because I want to highlight and honor what a rich, though restricted, relationship we share. Like Captain Ahab, I feel like time with you is this illusive and shifting desire that I can never quite obtain. But unlike Moby Dick, you are not a whale. Okay, I seriously hope you laughed because that was kind of an English teacher joke, right? On a more earnest note, I always thought we had a wonderful connection as we would drive to class together many years ago. It was pleasant to have a friend to chat around with and talk over assignments. I think you already know that I've always admired your insight and the process you use to actualize your tasks. I would love to pick your brain about your metacognition (geeky, I know). But what I have really enjoyed in the last few years is discussing our growing skill as mothers. It is nice to have a neighbor who you could drop in on; not that we've ever really done that, but I do think about it often... When we have a chance to talk, I wish it could go on and on, because I so enjoy our discussions. I know this will sound strange--but by now you should know that I am a bit--but when I was thinking of a simile to tie this up, I thought about how for a split second, it would have been lovely for us to have been sisters. I let that thought run for a second and I saw some flashes of lying in bunk beds, whispering and talking and giggling and sharing. I never had a sister; I think you would have been a wonderful one.

Love, Lauren

Letter #9/30- Someone I wish I could Meet

Dear Sir,

Congratulations on your decision to run for president of the United States of America. I cannot tell you how much I am encouraged to see you amongst the candidates for the Republican Party. For all the years that you have served as a Congressman for the state of Texas and for the consistency you displayed voting in Washington D.C., I thank you. Last election, many Americans were under the delusion that "if I help him [Obama], he's gonna help me" , throngs were audacious enough to believe that this man would bring hope to our nation and bring our troops home. Promises he has failed to keep. Now, more than ever, as the international community disregards the dollar, as more troops die on foreign soil and as the federal debt threatens to literally sink our country to the Marianas Trench, Americans are looking to restore the status of America, not only in the global scheme, but in their own hearts. Dr. Paul, how do you explain the consistent nosing you receive from the media? How is it possible that you continue to win straw polls, yet the moguls who make the white clown dance ignore your standings? What would you tell people about yourself in hopes that they would realize that returning to our Constitutional Foundation with the expulsion of government from our lives' details would help in that restoration? I'd just love to have a chat over a cup of coffee about what you think will reestablish this nation. I'd like to know how you go to work struggle against the current and not end up absolutely insane. So, when you're in California- give me a call and I'll meet you to hang out. It would be a real honor.

Love, Lauren

Letter #8/30- Internet friend

Dear Internet Friend,

As a mother, it's always encouraging to hear from other mothers across the nation. Whether it be a pregnancy update, a new baby or an encouragement from the Lord...I appreciate when you take the time to post a blog sharing your life. It's fun to feel connected, even when you live many states away. So whether it's a trip to a museum or the shore, or the zoo, keep me updated. I love seeing your kids growing up, your ideas for family fun, how you're losing the baby weight and a random insight or two from your heart.

To all my mama-bloggers: I ♥ you!

Letter #7/30- the Ex

Dear Ex,

You don't miss me; I don't mind.

Love, Lauren

Letter #6/30- Stranger

Dear Mel,

I really pray you are an angel. Today you came by my house soliciting help. Usually, I would just rush a solicitor like you off onto the next victim. But, today was different. For some reason, you actually got to see me the way I want to be. Grateful and generous. It's only because of the Holy Spirit that I even considered giving you money. I wanted to tell you that there's this incredible work going on in my heart that's revealing how selfish and grubby I am. God has rescued me! I don't deserve it, but He did. He gave me a new life, how can I not be constantly overflowing with praise to Him? How can I bemoan anything? ANYTHING?!? Yet, even with you as a somewhat captive audience, I let the fear of man keep me from sharing this incredibly good news for all men. I talked to you about God, instead of Jesus. I let you tell me how you know there is Someone up there, looking out for you, BUT, religion screwed up your family...so...let's just stand together in awkwardness. That's why I really hope God was sending me an angel to entertain. An angelic host who was looking at me and hoping for all the best while watching me allow fear to paralyze me from speaking about my Rescuer. While I pray the money really, truly does help you- I hope that somehow God uses the words I spoke to encourage you even more. So, here's what I really wanted to say:

Mel, you are beautiful. You are amazing, you are wonderful. Did you know that there is a God and He is on His throne in heaven? Did you know that God chose to rescue His children from the sin that wears them out every day? Have you ever tried to been better, but were never able to succeed? It's because you can't be better. Your heart is very sick and it is dying. You need a Rescuer to save you from yourself because you cannot and will not be able to do it. Because God looked down and chose to love you, He will welcome you into His arms. All He asks is that you believe what He has said. Like a father asks his little girl, He wants you to trust Him, even though you can't understand everything about Him and what He is planning and working out in this world. What He said is this: I AM. There is no other God and I sent my Son to live a perfect life and be the propitiation for sacrifices which, in the past, I demanded of my people. Now, I am making a new family- a royal family in which you can rule and dwell as my daughter. You must come to me by way of a sacrifice, and no sacrifice is perfect. You can't sacrifice enough to earn adoption and no one else can either. But, I made a way; my Son, Jesus, came to earth, made all the bad things untrue and because I love you so much, I was willing to kill him for your bad things. It was Our plan all along. It was the only way to reach down and rescue you from the curse of sin and death. It's the only way and it's a gift. It's the best gift you will ever get. You will never need anything else (though you'll forget again and again). Do you want to be a daughter of the King? It's not because you're beautiful, or wonderful or amazing- yes, you're all those things because God made you that way!- it's because He chose you. Your name is inscribed on His hand. He can't stop thinking about you or loving you. Like the father of the prodigal son, He won't berate you for what you've done (He let Jewish leaders cover this one), he won't shame you or make you feel worthless (the Roman soldiers already did), He won't ask you were you've been (He knows) or how you're going to make it up to Him (you can't)...when you come home to your true Father, He's going to throw His arms open so very wide, He's going to run to meet you, He's going to wipe away all your tears, He's not even going to let you blubber into you're "I'm-so-bad-speech". He's just going to hold you and hold you and hold you and then look into your eyes, laugh and say- You're home, I love you, let's celebrate!

And that's just what we'll do.

Love, Lauren

Letter #5/30- Dreams

Dear Dream:

My vision, daydreams and whispered thoughts of Servant’s Heart College where but vapors 50 years ago. It was some secret longing for me, and I don’t even know if I allowed myself the opportunity to let that dream flourish in my mind for the first few years when thoughts and ideas were just whirling through my mind. Yet, here we are, 30 years later and God has blessed me as the steward over a prestigious college assisting over 500 women in growing toward their desperate pursuit of womanly knowledge. In the early 1980s and 1990s there was an exodus of women from the sacred realm of hearth and home. Girls were deemed unintelligent and archaic should they desire nothing more than excellence as wife and mother. This unnerving trend continued through the millennium, and the fruit of this exodus were tyrannical children, frustrated husbands, and restless discord in the soul of women. When I founded this college, it was my deepest desire to see women supported in their thirst for both theoretical and applicable knowledge. The previous generations left women bereft of those magical home-making skills that many found priceless and taught them to jump hoops in order to work at a career for about 5 years before abandoning either said career or their children to another caretaker. Servant’s Heart College melds the heart of the home with the academic pursuit of the mind. I am proud to say that most of our graduates can read, speak and teach Latin & Greek. They could file income taxes or just balance a daily budget. They can teach elementary kids, but they choose to develop curriculum for their own children. They could work as a doctor, but bless their fellow women through midwifery. They can knit, bake, sew, sing, play an instrument, plant a garden, treat their children medically, manage a household purposefully and are working to entwine head, heart and hand in ways that produce untold bounty in our nation. To believe that this would happen for Servant’s Heart College attendees free of charge was the inconceivable “dream within a dream”. I believed that 50 years ago, it was time for women’s education to become more authentic, more accessible and more applicable by shirking the need for red tape, accreditation and federal funding. I am proud, spending my golden years in the basking glow of God’s blessing on a little dream He gave me for women of all ages: that we might show ourselves approved in mind, soul and body for the benefit of our entities and the glory of our Great God.

Love,

Lauren Bergon

President Emeritus, Servant’s Heart College