Dear
Sisters,
“Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, [sisters], as it is meet,
because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone
of you all toward each other aboundeth;”!!! -II Thes. 1:2-3
I know that for many of you, it may seem like forever since we got
the July/August issue out, but wow! It seems like just yesterday to us
that we made the copies and mailed them! Time has just passed so quickly
for us during these past few months.
We want you all to know how much we appreciated your responses to our
“Plea For Help” in the July/August issue. The submissions were just wonderful,
and they greatly helped to lift the writing burden off of our shoulders!
It was somewhat amazing to us that much of the material that flowed
in, however, had to do with the subjects of “not having boyfriends”, dating,
courtship, etc., although we did receive materials covering numerous other
aspects of friendship. Well, what can we say?!..:-).. We hope you enjoy,
and receive as much of a blessing from it all as we did!
It’s quite thrilling to us, when we see other teenage sisters willing
to open up and share with each other what God has been doing in their lives.
What can be more helpful and encouraging than to know that there are “many”
out there, who, like us, are quite human and go through the same types
of struggles in life?! No, sisters, just because we are encouraging all
of you to “step heavenward,” it doesn’t mean that we have already “arrived”.
(No matter how we may sometimes seem to come across in our writings, we
still have struggles like all the rest of you. So take heart!... :-) )
For the next issue of “YWSH”, the two main themes will be: “Thankfulness”
and “Contentment”. Please write and send any articles, well-written
stories, poems, etc. having to do with these two subjects.
Some writing suggestions:
On thankfulness... Have you ever experienced or witnessed
a “minor-miracle” which produced a great thankfulness in your heart to
the Lord? Has there ever been a time in your life when you were especially
thankful for someone or something? (For instance: God, your salvation,
His mercy, friends, family, etc... ) Was there ever a time when you
learned to be thankful in a situation where you weren’t thankful to begin
with? Why should we be thankful?
On contentment... Have you ever felt discontented with
your surroundings, possessions, looks, parent’s decisions, etc...? Write
and tell how the Lord helped you to overcome in this area. Why should we
be content? And what are some helpful suggestions for those who struggle
with being contented?
And, of course, we are always looking for your other spiritual stories,
articles, poems, recipes, herb articles, testimonies, crafts (or inexpensive
gift ideas), penpal requests, cute things that your little siblings have
said or done, lessons that you have learned, sewing, canning and gardening
tips, book reports and suggestions for this magazine!
We’re afraid that from now on, (under most circumstances) we’re
going to have to ask that you submit only your original writings that have
not yet been printed in another publication. However, if you do decide
to send in material that has already been printed , we would appreciate
knowing when and where it was printed. Based on this information,
we will decide whether or not to include your submission in “YWSH”.
And... oh yes! Mothers and Grandmothers, please feel perfectly free
to pick up your pens and share your hearts with us younger sisters if you
feel led of the Lord to do so. There’s a lot you can teach us, and a
lot we still need to learn!
Titus 2:3-5 says, “The aged women.. That they may teach the young
women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that
the word of God might not be blasphemed.”
Ok, everyone... It’s apology time! :-| I guess you all will notice
that this issue is somewhat late in reaching you. (And no, don’t worry.
It’s not your fault. We received plenty of submissions! :-) )
Don’t be shocked that this is only our second issue and we’re already
behind! As we hope we made clear in the first issue, we, and our parents
feel that it’s important that this magazine doesn’t become such a big deal
in our lives that it becomes more important to us to send the issues out
by specific dates, than it does to spend time serving and helping in our
family. During these past two months, we have been very busy as you may
well have guessed. With school starting, 6 baby goats to care for and numerous
other distractions, what else but “lack of magazine time” could possibly
be expected? Oh well, I hope you’ll all forgive us that this issue is running
a little “behind schedule”! Thanks!
... And just as it is true that our time is not in “our hands”,
but rather in God’s, so it is also true that our copy machine is
not in “our hands”, but rather, in God’s! Yes, you’ve guessed it!
Our copy machine is out - has been out for 2-3 months now.
We hope this will be sufficient explanation to those of you who requested
sample issues, but are only just now receiving them. To get the issues
copied at a copy-mart isn’t exactly cheap here, so we just held out....
held out.... and held out in hopes that the company that our copier is
warranted with, would eventually be able to make it out here. (It turns
our that they’re having financial problems due to an unworthy technician
that they had to fire.) Even as we write this, we are still “holding out”
and we don’t know whether we will have to go to a copymart to get this
issue printed, or not. - Anyway, the Lord knows best, and will certainly
provide!
Also, we hold the same dread in our hearts that many magazine editors
can relate to, I think! :-) - That being, that we could possibly lose addresses,
mailing lists, etc. If any of your issues are more than two months overdue,
and still... “No magazine!”, please please write and inform
us! Re-send your address, and we will see what we can do, ok?
Now to conclude, let us say in parting that we are very grateful indeed
to our God for that one bond that holds us all together; (that being,
the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ)! Though many of you be
far away, and though many of you we have not yet met in person, we still
feel that bond which does indeed exist between us. We love you all,
our dear sisters in Christ, and want you to know it!... and now ...
"...Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever."
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you.."!
Only because of Him,
Summer Joy and Melody Hope
(P.S. If you have any questions for us, please either send an SASE
with your letter, or else e-mail us at mchapin@texoma.net (Note recent
e-mail change) Thanks! It is also very helpful when submissions
to the magazine are sent through e-mail.)
(Everyone please note: Any work you send in, might be subject to
editing and revising as we see fit.)