“Your notes were like a warm blanket around me,” she said. “Even though you couldn’t take away the pain or make the situation change, you were able to pull me to a happy place for a few minutes. You helped take my focus off the pain.”
Her heart was broken, and I was helpless in the face of her suffering. What could I do? I wondered. How could I make her feel better?
Then I got an idea: fill her mailbox with notes and funny things to make her smile. A few days each week, I’d grab a pretty note card, write a note saying she was on my mind and in my prayers, enclose a cartoon or photo I thought she’d like, and send it off.
“Sometimes,” she said, “just knowing that other people are thinking about you is comforting.”
Today, when we can communicate in so many paperless, effortless ways, why take the time to correspond the old-fashioned way?
Here’s why: The more convenient our communication becomes, the more temporary it is. Although we can save an encouraging text or email, it’s just not the same as holding a note or letter in our hands. Because they're written on paper, the words of a letter become almost tangible. And we can read and reread them as often as we want.
April is National Letter Writing Month. Although I often send written encouragement to family and friends, I’ve gotten out of the habit lately. This month’s emphasis (and this blog post) has inspired me to pick up my pen again. To kick it off, yesterday afternoon I sent a note to my aunt in Virginia.
A note or letter doesn't have to be long to be meaningful. Words of encouragement carry a beauty that lasts far beyond the time it took to actually write them.
Is there someone you could encourage this week with a card or letter? If you write to someone, I'd love to know! Leave a comment below.
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