Sisterhood

Do you ever question why you blog? I know I do. There have been many times that I've thought of packing it up. My husband encourages me to keep writing. He enjoys reading each and every comment that you all leave (as do I!)

Blogging has helped me to connect to so many wonderful women. Women who are raising families just like me. Women who like to cook, sew, etc. Women who are living out their faith daily; sharing scripture and prayer requests with one another. And still I wonder, 'Do I make a difference?'

I received the sweetest email from a woman in Brazil this weekend. Her words touched my very core. I want to share them with you, not to build myself up, but to build each of you. Taking time to write is rare in this day and age. I believe that we are making a difference, and that even though we may not realize it, someone else may be encouraged by what we have to say.

Hi Tracy,
I visited your blog yesterday, and today I felt that I shouldn't leave it without sharing my impressions.
I'm a Brazilian music teacher, and I don't know if you can track exactly the places from where your blog was visited, but it's quite far from where you are, in southern Brazil, in a city named Curitiba, in Paraná. Maybe the Iguaçu falls are a reference - they're in the same state.
But I'm not writing to share geographical data with you. I just want to thank you. After a rough day at work, facing personal problems with nasty colleagues, I put my kids in bed and went on a hunt for ideas of self made gift for their teachers. In Brazil, October 15th is teacher's day. Once they are tiny (3 and 6), there's quite a lot of people around them, teachers, assistants, hygiene aids, etc. I thought that making a gift for each of these people, who help me take care of my babies while I'm teaching my classes would be much better than spending a lot of money and buying gifts that in the end wouldn't be so meaningful.
Hunting for ideas, I decided that making some personalized totes, with each teacher's name embroidered on it would be a charming gift for teacher's day. But I don't sew...
Searching for templates or patterns that would suit both, my expectations and my skills, I ended up finding your blog. I went up and down through it, fascinated by every little detail you placed there. I even read (almost all of) the 100 facts about you. And every time I scrolled down the page, my eyes caught a glance of those eternally true words: "Be still and know that I am God." Every time I read them, I was touched by those words, and scrolling my way through your blog, each touch was like a balm for my sore heart. I didn't need to read or to hear more than those 8 words. That's the beauty of God's word: it's so simple, and so powerful. And still, people have a hard time believing it can be true.
Let me try to come to an end: I just wanted you to know that your posts are a precious testimony of your faith. Through it, you are telling people the good news of God's love. Softly and gently, between recipes and news about your kids. Your posts are reaching out farther then you might have expected.
May God bless you and your wonderful family, which I know a little bit now. I'll visit you every now and then.
In the love of Jesus,
Marilene (Mah-ree-lay-nay)

PS. I attached a picture of our family, for you to get to know us, too.
PS.II The recipe attached goes to Autumn - for Jon. These are very traditional Brazilian sweets - no party without them, and everyone goes crazy about them. When my nephew got married in Nashville, my sister and I made this recipe (times 100) to serve with the cake. I'll try to make my mini-tutorial almost as good as yours...