The Blessings of Letter Writing

The Blessings of Letter Writing

My goal was to write 40 letters during Lent/50 letters for the year*. I managed to write 38 letters during Lent and I'll continue to write some more during the rest of the year. 

When I first started this challenge, I was intimidated. Writing letters to people who have impacted my life, how could I express that in words? And how could I even decide who to pick? Many of the letters ended up being thank you notes to those who made a difference in my life. I also sent some letters that were to encourage others in their walks of life. It took time; time to write, time to reflect, time to think about who those people are in my life.

In the beginning, it was a goal, a challenge. But then something changed...it became a blessing. 

I had only sent out a few letters when I received a phone call. It wasn't out of the ordinary that this person would call and I was thinking this person was calling me to update me on something that was going on. Instead, the call was to let me know that they had received the letter from me and it came at just the right time. Just when encouragement was needed. I may have been the one to write the letter, but God had the perfect timing. Later on, I got a  few text messages thanking me. Then a couple Facebook messages. Even a hand-written note back. 

It was the unexpected. It is truly a blessing. God played a big hand in this letter writing. He used me to bless others, and in turn, I was blessed even more.

Both my mom** and I took this challenge and it never crossed our minds that we would have feedback like we did. Like I mentioned, I was slightly worried about what people think, but I didn't think it would be positive! I thank God for the blessing it has become in my life. Who would have thought that it would be a double-fold blessing? It just goes to show that I was not looking at the big picture. God's plan for us is so much bigger than we can see. No matter what we are doing, we need to do it for Him and, if we let Him, He will use those things for His glory. Even letter writing! 

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

*More about my Reversed Lent Challenge on my previous blog posts, Lent 2015: http://bit.ly/1FD3xLJ and The Art of Letter Writing: http://bitly.com/1DZ7J4K

**My mom's blog post about the challenge: http://bitly.com/1aHt8W8