Never Underestimate the Power of the Written Word

Have you ever received a note or card from someone that made you smile ear to ear? The note so encouraged you that you would not dare relegate it to the trash can? I have a box in my attic of such notes. I am not sure why I am saving them~certainly my children will not want them when I'm dead and gone. I haven't looked through them or reread them in years, so what makes me hang on to them? I have always loved writing people notes. Probably because I love getting them from others. In a day and age of email and e-cards the only snail mail we receive most days is bills, junk mail and catalogs. Is that what makes a handwritten note in the mailbox so special?

Not too long ago I ran into a woman from our church and we started chatting. During our conversation she told me she still had a note of encouragement I had written her several years ago. What would make her keep a note for all these years and remember what I wrote in it to her? I wonder if written notes say 'your special' in a unique way? In February my dad passed away. In preparing for his memorial service I asked our girls what one of their favorite memories was of Pop. Shoshanah told us it was that Pop always sent her notes in the mail with several sticks of gum. Notes~in the mail~with sticks of gum. It was an 'aha' moment for me. Shoshanah loved getting those notes in the mail. She knew when the mail came, in addition to the adult junk mail, there just might be something in that stack for her. She loved when I sorted through the mail, pulled out an envelope, handed it to her and said, “this one is for YOU!” It communicated to her that she was special. Notes people write us make us feel special. And even if we don't read them over and over again we know they are tucked away somewhere safe just as they are tucked away in the memories of our heart.

The book of Acts is full of stories of believers who encourage each other (Acts 14:22; 15:31-32) and this model of encouragement is commanded of believers in I Thessalonians 5: 11, 14 and Hebrews 10:25. So what are you going to do today? Is there someone in your life you need to write a note of encouragement to? Take a moment right now. Grab a piece of paper, spring for a stamp, and jot down a quick note to someone that will make them grin from ear to ear.

Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say

You might be surprised at what your children hear, understand, process, and put into their little memory banks! Scary might even be a better word. Two quick stories illustrate this fact.

Our family loves baseball, especially our World Series Champion Diamondbacks. It was the home opener and we were sitting down watching the game at home with our two girls (tickets to the Champions are a little out of our budget). Between innings, a commercial for a cell phone company came on. Dennis Franz was telling his agent that he doesn’t “do” commercials because you have to be a user of the product you are trying to sell. The four of us are talking when Zoe (4 years old at the time) looked up and said, “Dad. That guy says he doesn’t ‘do’ commercials, but LOOK! He’s doing a commercial.” Well at least the ad gurus know how to get a 4 year old’s attention.

My brother died of a drug overdose several years ago. We have consciously withheld some of the details from our girls until they are a little older. I am amazed at how much they know already from listening to our conversations with other adults. The summer my daughter was 4, I helped chauffeur her preschool class to Phoenix for a field trip. I drove and chatted with one teacher, while Zoe sat in the very back row of the van next to her other teacher. All of the sudden, I was drawn to Zoe’s conversation with her teacher. “Well,” Zoe said, in a rather a matter of fact tone, “my Uncle Na Na took my Grammy’s pillow one night. When my Grammy woke up in the morning and went to get her pillow he was dead, but I don’t know how he died. My pop tried to hold him like a baby, but he wouldn’t come back alive. I guess my Grammy killed him for taking her pillow.” Startled by her word’s, I nearly ran off the road. I had told this part of my brother’s story to some people when Zoe was nearly two years old, and two years later she was showing us she had overheard, remembered, processed it, and now was ‘regurgitating it.

Each of these stories illustrate how scary it can be when we stop to think about what our children hear and remember. It leaves an indelible impression with me that I need to watch all that I say and do around my children Even when I think it’s “going over their heads” or that they are not listening. We have adopted a saying in our household - “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” How often in life do we say one thing and do something very different? Are you a 'do as I say, but not as I do' kind of person?

Lord give us strength to be careful to say and do the right thing!

Embracing Life's Changes

When I was a little girl, my grandmother, gave me some great advice about getting shots. She said, “Sam, if you tense up, it is harder for the needle to go into the muscle so it hurts more. Relax, don't fight it and it will hurt less.” Pretty good advice for getting shots, but even better advice when dealing with life’s changes.

They say only death and taxes are certainties, but I believe ‘change’ should be in that list also. As part of the 'sandwich' generation (raising children at home and caring for aging parents) change is a constant. In the last year, I have sent a daughter to high school, a daughter to middle school, graduated from Phoenix Seminary, buried my father, and am helping my mom deal with being a widow.

The way my mom and I communicate through this transitional time is a great example of relaxing and not fighting the change. During the time my mom was caring for my paraplegic father she became increasingly lonely and sought out my interaction. Several phone calls a day may not seem like much, but a lot of times I didn’t have time for call right then and there, so I showed her how to text message me from the computer. Her messages got to me right away and I would call her back when I could. Eventually, mom decided that texting wasn’t so bad and it became our primary means of communication - a win win for both of us.

Mom also felt like she was in the dark about what our family was doing, so she took the next risk - Facebook. By watching our family’s and our daughter’s Facebook she could see on a daily basis what our family and my daughters were doing.

Mom is a great example of relaxing and going with life’s changes instead of tensing up. Mom could have said, “honey, I just don't want to learn how to text so you will just need to answer the phone when I call.” In reality, every generation faces these type of changes. Not too long ago, the television and carbon copies where new things. Next it was computers, cellphones, and copy machines. Now it is texting, Facebook, podcasts, and Twitter. And who knows what will be next.

Even within the church, organs gave way to pianos, and now guitars. Overhead projectors gave way to slide projectors, and now PowerPoint presentations. And although the gospel message is unchanging, the way it is presented and will be presented must change. Without change, how can we reach this generation and the generation to follow.

I think my Grandma really was right. I am going to have to get that shot; the question I need to ask myself is if I will resist it and reap the consequence of the additional pain, or will I relax and go with it? What about you? Will you relax and embrace the changes life brings? Or, will you tense up and resist it?