Lent Day 7, Tuesday, February 23, 2021

“Handwritten!”

Handwritten notes and letters have fallen away in popularity. It’s so much easier to send someone a text or email, and not incur the delay or expense involved in mailing a note to someone. Preprinted cards purchased from a store or created online are also easy to generate, allowing us to send something in the mail without experiencing writer’s cramp, carpal tunnel, and other irritations experienced by writing something by hand. None of these solutions will work for today's challenge. Today’s challenge is to compose a handwritten note to someone and mail it!

Before we shy away from this challenge, take a moment to consider how it feels to receive an encouraging, handwritten letter from someone. What do you notice when you receive it? What does it say? Are there parts of the letter that are not legible because of the handwriting, requiring you to take some extra time to decipher the message? How much time did the sender take to write this note? Do you pay attention to the script and style of the writing? What other things do you notice about the letter or note?

These are just a few of the questions that a recipient might consider. We cannot ignore the special feeling we experience when someone sends us a handwritten letter. It probably only took them a few minutes to write the letter and even less time to mail it, but that letter can make all the difference in our own demeanor because of their thoughtfulness.

Today, write someone a letter, note, or card. If you choose to send a card, don’t let the greeting companies do the talking for you. Allow yourself plenty of room to write a personal note to the recipient, encouraging them and letting them know that they are special and important. After you’ve written the letter, stamp and mail it today.

You will be making a difference in someone’s life.

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV)