I got my first real piece of “fan mail” today. I’ve gotten nice emails and encouraging comments about articles I’ve published in the past, but this was different, a plain white envelope addressed to Jenny Rae Armstrong, Maple, WI. (One of the distinct advantages of living in a small town–the postal workers know who you are, no street address needed! A California relative once sent a letter to my grandparents, addressed to “Ma and Pa Williams” in Poplar, WI. And of course in Poplar, everyone knows who Ma and Pa are!!!)

Inside the white envelope was a very sweet letter from the mother of an autistic boy, thanking me for the articles Jamison and I wrote for the Duluth News Tribune. She talked a bit about her son and the issues they have faced, threw in a gentle nudge about how she looks to God to get her through (I love it when people care enough to mention this–the DNT article was completely secular, so she would have no way of knowing whether I had a relationship with God to draw strength from or not), and then wrote that “You brought a little light into my day, and I wanted to thank you personally.”

That is so humbling. Particularly since I wrote that article on a whim–I was learning about op-eds in my journalism class, a friend had emailed me a thought-provoking article that asked what individuals wished people knew about autism, and I thought “Hey, I could write an op-ed about that–and maybe earn a nice clip while I’m at it.” It was a practical decision, not driven by any deep-seated motives, but it still had an impact on people, made somebody’s life a little brighter for a few minutes.

It makes me want to write more.

It makes me want to publish more.

It makes me want to quit dinking around, and follow the advice I offered so freely in my comments on the article at Relevant about how women should live out their giftings. It makes me want to squeeze every drop out of life, pour myself out into the people and passions I love, and soak up every ounce of the blessings life pours back into me. I want enlarge myself, my heart, my soul, my mind, become a bigger, better “sponge,” so I can soak up more and pour more out.

On those lines, it was much too pretty of an evening to stay inside stuck behind a computer screen, so Aaron and I grabbed some picnic food from the Poplar Market and took the fam to Amnicon Falls. (The third time this week for me! Seriously, I am addicted–it’s always been one of my favorite spots in the entire world.) Here’s the prettiest picture I took today. Enjoy!