Letters To Dusten

By Jane Futrell Williams

It is always a joy to receive a personal letter in the mail.  This book is a collection of letters written by a long distance grandmother to her grandson, Dusten.  They were written to encourage Dusten as he transitioned into becoming a teenager.  It was a bumpy road and through these letters Grandma Jane wanted Dusten to understand the meaning of God's love and grace in his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jane Williams
• Release date: Oct 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393015963

Jane Futrell Williams

Reverend Jane Williams received her Diploma in Anglican Studies from Trinity School for Ministry.  She was ordained to the diaconate in the Diocese of San Joaquin, California where she has served as a parish deacon for eighteen years. 

Book preview

Forward

My Grandma Jane asked me to write a forward for this book.  The subject she gave me was about these letters and how I felt about them.  My feelings were mixed because before she sent me these letters she would send my sisters and brother things for our birthdays and Christmas that we were excited about.  The things she sent were cool and interesting; things we didn’t know anything about.  One time she sent my little brother a horn made out of a rams horn (shofar).  It was really cool.  It made us investigate where it came from and what it was used for.  One Christmas she sent me a wooden puzzle dog which took me hours to figure out how to put back together.  It was easy to take apart but took hours to put back together.

The letters she sent made me feel happy because they had a kind of smell to them.  I don’t know, it’s weird, but there was a fragrance that was calming.  It seemed convenient timing when Grandma Jane sent one of her letters.  I was living in Fairbanks and still in high school and I would just have gone through a difficult time or just had a really down day.  The letters helped me cope with what I was feeling.  Writing her back helped me express my feelings knowing that I could confide in her.  There was always a piece of information that I wasn’t sure about so I had to look it up.  I was furthering my education just by simple little facts.

When she came up from California to visit, and I moved back to Anchorage to live with my family again, we ended up sitting down and talking for I think like three or four hours in a restaurant with one of her friends.  We could talk about anything.  We could talk about religion. We could talk about science.  We would talk about whatever we wanted.  She was very open to what we were interested in and at one point the letters entered the conversation; how relevant they are today even though they are in the past.  I hope you enjoy the stories. 

Thank you for your support.

Dusten Ryburn

December 2019

Introduction

Dear Reader,

It is always a joy to receive a letter in the mail from a friend or family member.  The letters in this book were written to my grandson Dusten.  The first was written when he was thirteen years old.  Do you remember when you were thirteen?  What an awkward age that can be. 

As a long distance grandmother I watched Dusten struggle as he entered into this awkward time of life and felt compelled to write him a letter.  Just one to let him know I loved and cared for him.  Sometime later I felt the nudge to write a second letter, then a third, then a fourth.  I ended up writing nineteen letters over a period of five years. 

It turned out to be a growing and learning experience for me personally and I have enjoyed every step of the journey.  Each letter has a life of its own.  I would wake up one morning and know it was time.  Everything simply clicked into place. 

Agnes Sanford said it this way in her book, The Healing Light:

"For on the days when I am in harmony with God, who is love,

all things both great and small seem to work together for my good. 

My work is done easily and with power

and my decisions are quick and unerring. 

Everything clicks, in other words."

Everything clicked into place when I felt these nudgings from God and when I would sit down in front of the computer the words flowed.  God directed and guided my fingers as I typed knowing that Dusten needed a word from Him.  There was no doubt in my mind these letters were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I visited Dusten this last summer and we spoke about the letters.  What he shared with me touched me deeply.  He told me that during that time in his life there were moments he was feeling lost and lonely and when things got particularly painful a letter would arrive and it would lift him up out of the darkness.  He read them over and over being comforted by the words.

We never know how God is going to use us.  The nudge I received to write the first letter came from God asking me to take action and the Holy Spirit inspired me.  Don’t let those special nudgings pass you by.  Listen to the Lord, step out in faith, and you will be blessed more than you can imagine.

I began to share some of the letters with a few friends and they encouraged me to put them into a book.  Perhaps my biggest supporter was Susan DeVore Richards.  Even as I write