Our second mailbox is for our home business. There is very little chance I will receive an encouraging card from someone there, but I have to admit, I always hope.
In the techno days in which we live, I have three more chances to get mail. There are the two email accounts and then text messaging on my phone. Most of what I receive is junk mail, yet, that note every now and then keeps me looking and hoping for more.
Most of the New Testament is letters written to the churches by the Apostles. They had something they wanted to be read over
and over again, so they wrote a letter. The letters start out with a greeting, often a prayer of blessing or at least stating how much the Apostle prays for that people, and then gets into the reason for the letter.
I am very thankful for these letters. Many a Bible has been worn out because I want to read those letters again and again. Wouldn’t it be cool, if we wrote letters to our children about things we want them to read several times over?
This idea comes to mind a couple of times a year. Often I will write each child a letter and set it on their pillow to find when they go to bed. Other times I’ve done a sticky note and stuck it where I knew that child would find it. Last night, I stayed up late and then snuck into their rooms and set the note right next to their pillow so they would see it first thing in the morning. For the record, only one child found the note, the rest had fallen on the floor by morning.
Towards the end of the book of John, chapter 20 verse 31 John tells us why this book was written. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Our letters too can be full of encouragement for our children to believe Jesus is who He says He is. Perhaps we can share a personal story or an answer to prayer. These letters can be like the stories of the old testament that were passed on from generation to generation so they would not forget how God had helped them. (II Kings 17: 35-39)
Don’t delay writing because your child can’t read. They will find the note and ask you to read it to them, how sweet is that? It is those little ones that might hug their note or walk around with it
in their hand for days. And years later they will come across that same note, read it again and all those sweet emotions will be stirred again. Write to your child, sharing the precious gift of hand written praise or words of encouragement for them to draw from whenever they need it.