This summer while I have been home for an uncharacteristically long stretch of time, I have been the delighted recipient of postcards from several of my goddaughters, nieces and nephew.
All of these youngsters have received postcards from me as I travel about the continent and the world. It is how I embrace my ministry of prayer with and for those loved ones at home, and those to whom I have pledged my prayers and support in their Christian lives.
It is also how this 50-something woman copes with her grandmother’s expectations for proper etiquette in the art of sending thank you notes and engaging in correspondence.
Two of my goddaughters are twins who recently turned ten years old. When I visited them last spring I was treated to viewing a photo album stuffed full of postcards from “Miss Bronwyn.” I had no idea that these little notes from the field had a shelf life beyond what the magnets on the refrigerator could hold. I have now established my own fancy file box to hold the post cards I anticipate receiving as all of my minions return the favor.
Ha! We’ll see how long this gig lasts.
A former member of my congregational youth group confessed to me at a wedding this summer that she still has every thank you note I sent her during the seven years of her participation and leadership in the middle school and high school youth groups. I was stunned.
“Why would you keep all of those? What did I thank you for?” I asked.
“I read them again when I am feeling down or having a crappy day. They help me rebuild my self-confidence, remind me who I am, help me remember that God loves me – because you always wrote ‘Jesus Loves you and so do I.’”
And so I did. And so I do.
What I have learned in all of this is the lasting power of a postage stamp. I send all kinds of correspondence and words of encouragement and gratitude via the internet, primarily Facebook.
But when I’m on the road and truly engaged in my spiritual discipline of prayer for my godchildren, my nieces and nephews, my sons, my siblings, my parents, and the rest of my family by blood and by choice, I send postcards. They are an outward and visible sign of my inward and spiritual practice to remain connected with all of these humans whom I love.
And now I have become a recipient of the same form of blessing. What a gift!
Who needs your blessing today?
Faithfully,
Bronwyn