Letters

Last night as I was attempting to purge even further the amount of stuff I have, I came across a box full of letters that I had once deemed important enough to keep. As I started reading them, I was brought back to so many memories. There were encouragement notes, cards with kind messages in them, notes written during a class and finally, letters written from friends when I went off to Bible College, since there were actually people who didn't have regular email access ten years ago.

It's funny how times have changed. I can stay in regular contact with friends in China, Argentina, Tanzania and Europe now through email and Facebook.

But there's something sad about the lack of letters these days. I couldn't quite bring myself to throw out the old letters. Instead I scanned them and saved them on my computer. Even though some of those words were written 12 years ago, it still warms my heart to read a thoughtfully written message of encouragement.

So, let's bring back the art of the letter. The nice thing is that it doesn't have to be frequent or lengthy. Just some kind, thoughtful, handwritten words can go a long way. After all, I've felt they were important enough to save for over a decade, moving through several houses. In fact, if I can issue a challenge to you as you read this, it would be to think of someone who has touched your life in some small way, and write them a letter to tell them.