Practice Writing Letters in Your Homeschool
Back in the day, before email, texting, Facebook, or Twitter, people wrote letters before there were blogs or even the internet or digital anything. In my opinion, it was a glorious time.
Back then, people took the time to sit down and write letters – often very long letters – to one another.
People didn’t just write love letters. They also wrote letters to family members separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles. The letters were filled with news (that would be old by the time it was read, but news just the same), encouragement, hopes, and dreams.
But people don’t write those kinds of letters anymore. In fact, people don’t write letters at all anymore. We seem to have settled for practically meaningless, punctuation-less, abbreviated, and often flippant texts or emails instead. It’s the new, innovative, modern method of communication.
They Brightened Your Day
In our rush to get to the next thing, we miss the value of investing in others. People treasured, bundled, guarded, read, and reread their letters. They were physical evidence of love and endearment. They documented trials, challenges, struggles, and victories. Men wrote home from war, missionaries from foreign lands, and daughters to mothers separated for the first time.
There’s nothing like getting a letter or a note. Often, I will read and reread letters written to me. I have a file full of letters and notes of encouragement I have received over the years. When I wondered about our homeschooling journey, I pulled out a note from one of the kids—written in crayon, in all its beautiful crookedness and misspellings—to read, “You’re the besth mom evur!”
God’s Love Letter
I’m grateful God gave us His love letter, the Bible. I’m glad it wasn’t just a text or an email but that He inspired over 40 men over 1600 years with the message of His love for His people in His glorious plan of Salvation.
Challenge
Having launched all of my kids, I’m resolved to write more. Sure, we email and text, and that’s fine and good, but I want to take the time to send along something more lasting and worth reading and rereading.
Why not take some time today to write a note or a letter? Why not push the pause button on the craziness of it all, pour a cup of tea, and steal away some time to invest in someone else? By doing so, we receive the blessing of encouraging someone else, knowing we will brighten their day. The possibilities are endless—your pastor, a friend, your son or daughter, your husband, a neighbor, your parents, or your grandparents. Whose mailbox might your note brighten?
As you plan your school studies for the year, I encourage you to focus on this special ministry of letter writing with your kids.
Proverbs 11:25 says,
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
So, let’s blow the dust off our address books, find a notecard or make one—nothing fancy, just paper and an envelope, scrounge around in our desks and find a stamp, get a pen and share our hearts, seal up our thoughtfulness with a smile, walk it to the mailbox, and enjoy knowing that someone is going to get a little unexpected sunshine!