Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Thanksgiving Letters: Cheerleading on Paper


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Written Words Give Power
As a young mother, I heard author and speaker Ann Ortlund say that when you want to compliment someone, you should write it. Why?  We may easily forget spoken words, no matter how inspiring. But written words give power and credibility to a thought, especially an encouraging thought.  Later on, when the person you complimented needs a soul-lift, they have your words of affirmation to help them overcome self-doubt and discouragement.

I discovered that Thanksgiving was the perfect day to start this “cheerleading on paper.” Before we ate dinner, we put each person’s name on a slip of paper and dropped them—the papers, not the people—in a basket. After the meal, everyone drew a name from the basket—no peeking!
 
 
A Sense of Kinship
Then we sat with pen or pencil and paper—fancy stationery or plain copy paper—and wrote that person a note telling them why we were thankful for them. When the children were too small to write, they whispered their dictations to us.  After we completed our notes, we went around the table and read them aloud. Some brought laughter, others tears, all a sense of kinship and gratitude.

How amazing to see God’s hand at work during these “Thankful Letter” moments. A sister forced to write why she was thankful for her pesky little brother sees him in a new light for a moment; a dad suddenly realizes he needs to express his esteem for his son more often; a spouse receives praise for a quality they thought had gone unnoticed.
 
God is Thrilled
Hearts stir to new feelings of affection and loyalty. God is thrilled. We are ministering to each other the way He intended when He created the family, bringing out the gifts in one another’s lives.  Thanksgiving becomes a time of refreshing our commitment to the ones we love most.  And we are further cementing that love by writing it.

I used this “ink and paper applause” method throughout my children’s lives to tell them how proud I was of a character quality they exhibited; to applaud an achievement of theirs; and to share a bit of wisdom from God’s Word for their futures. I’ve also used it with my husband and close friends, to show my esteem for them in a tangible, permanent way.
 

The Creator has placed people in our lives to make us better than we could be without them. He has put us in others’ lives to bring them closer to His good plan for them. Sharing our thankfulness to those people through writing is a way to celebrate His goodness, and to enlarge their hearts toward Him.

Has God used someone to make a positive difference in your life? Don’t just tell it to them; spell it to them.  Write your thanks.
Speaking of thanks, I'd like to say a huge "thank you" to all of you who helped me shout about my book giveaway extravaganza yesterday! It was a huge success, and I'm so grateful for your help. Mostly I'm grateful to have YOU in my life. Thanks for just being you...

18 comments:

  1. I appreciate this post Jeanette. I know it blesses me when I receive written or emailed words of appreciation. That in turn makes me try harder to let others know when they've said or done something I appreciate. Sometimes the Holy Spirit nudges me to just send a note of encouragement to someone and I try to be faithful in doing that. Is an email note okay?

    Many blessings to you.

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    1. Barb: Good for you! Yes, email counts as a note, since it's in writing, and the person can print it or save it and read it again and again.

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  2. What a lovely, lovely tradition. You are so right- the longevity of the written word continues to bring blessings long after the immediacy of the spoken work has dimmed.

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  3. Thank you for being you, Jen! You are a blessing and I am thankful to know you. Loved this post!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. What a cool idea and wonderful tradition of encouragement! Thanks for sharing this!
    ~ Wendy

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    1. Thanks, Loree, Karen, and Wendy. You guys bless me all the time!

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  5. Wow! I love your Thanksgiving idea! And agree wholeheartedly with the power of the written word. Writing notes to people is something I've always enjoyed. This post also reminds me of the book '365 Thank Yous' by John Kralec.

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    1. Linda: I've not heard of that title. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Thanks, Denise. You are one of my best cheerleaders!

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  7. I am thankful for your encouraging words at my blogs, and especially in my email box! I must remember to spread my 'thanksgiving' more especially to my family who I tend to take sometimes nag more than thank!

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  8. I love the idea. It displayed true thanksgiving. We indeed have so many blessings to be thankful for. Like now, I thanked God the moment I read your blog, for inspirational bloggers like you. You and your blog are a blessing. I wrote it down here in your comment section hoping it would give you a smile every time you read it :)

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  9. What a beautiful idea, Jeanette. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  10. I sometimes take the time to write a note of encouragement to someone at church who is going through a difficult time. This past Tuesday at a meeting, an older woman sat down next to me and took a card out of her Bible. I noticed what it had on the front of it and said, "That's nice." She responded, "Yes,it's nice, It's from you." I felt humbled.

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  11. I love the idea of writing things down. My son has lots of letters I sent him in college with encouragements. The others got some, too. Your Thanksgiving table sounds warm and wonderful. I'm sure God is quite thrilled indeed by all of the love.

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  12. Hi Jen -

    We always do the verbal giving thanks, but I like your idea.

    Congrats on the success of your extravaganza!

    Happy Thanksgiving, my friend,
    Susan :)

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