Dear Friend,

I have written you a letter I will call a “Love Note”. I am writing this note because I am trying to get better at doing Love and I want to help other people see it and learn about its availability to them. I will write and send a “Love Note” like this one to a different person each day for thirty days in an effort to learn how to do Love better and to grow closer to the original “giver of Love”, God himself. In each note I will focus on my personal experiences with Love and will not give advice, direction, or suggestions. For this reason, my “Love Note” will always go to someone I’ve never net and know nothing about. I chose you at random to get this note, but I am certain that what I write will have meaning to you.

My life, by most people’s standards, is a quite a bit unusual. I live in Central America, in a little country called Costa Rica. The people here are very friendly and welcoming. And the weather, for an Ohio girl like me, is very nice year round. I love just about everything about living here except for one thing, my dog Miah cannot live here with me.

My husband and I have been a part of a children’s home ministry for about 8 years. We lived in Mississippi for six years and then moved to Costa Rica two years ago to help with a different aspect of that same ministry. When we were preparing to leave Mississippi to come here, we realized that we couldn’t take our black lab Miah with us. This was a tough decision because she was like our child. My husband and I have had difficulty having children so the Lord blessed us with our “little girl” Miah instead. Considering giving her away was like giving away a child, but it was the best option for her. You might be thinking, “Okay lady; what does this have to do with love?”

Well, in my experience, love is often shown in painful sacrifice. Love can be said often and never be quite as profound as love shown in action. Although I would have benefited from having Miah here with me, she definitely would have suffered. Labrador’s by nature love water and the great outdoors, but this isn’t something that is plenteous here where I live. The place where she would live there in Mississippi had a lake, farm, children, and lots of forest; an ideal place for my girl. There really wasn’t a choice to be made. I just had to find a way to be okay so she could be happy.

It’s been two years and I still miss her. A few weeks ago, I found out that the person who took her dropped her off at the place where I had been and left her there. The people that were there were unable to care for her so they had to take her to the pound. I was very angry with the person who was supposed to take care of my “baby”. I say “was”, because like doing what was best for Miah was an act of love, forgiving that person is also an act of love. God gave me Miah, and He has every right to take her away. As I said before, sometimes love is best shown through “painful sacrifice”. Guess I still have a lot to learn.

I’m not sure why this could be a help to you, but I will assume it was for a reason and I hope it brightened your day. Of all the people I might have mailed this “Love Note” to, it was your name and address I was led to choose. Even though your name was picked at random, I am certain it wasn’t by chance.