So young. So much to learn.

“She came over for a sleep over, our last sleep over together before she was moving to Florida. I could not count the number of times we had been to each other’s houses, the number of games we had played together and I had definitely lost count of the number of times we had laughed so hard until our sides hurt. Whatever the number, this would be the last time we would be together.

We had ordered pizza and stuffed our faces with a big bag of gummi worms. Our fingers and toes were freshly manicured and we even had a new dance routine to Beat It by Michael Jackson. But as we laid awake in our sleeping bags on the floor of my living room, no one was happy. I was mad at her. She was mad at me. We spent the next 2 hours arguing and crying about important things like kick ball and who was the best teacher at our school. Neither of us could actually bring ourselves to say what we were really mad about: losing a dear friend.”

My best friend in fourth grade moved away to FL and after that night neither of us knew if we would ever see each other again. We were too young to understand or even verbally explain the true meaning behind our emotions: we did not want our friendship to end. But despite the circumstances that were far out of our control, we vowed to write to each other. And we did. The friendship took on a different shape but we shared pieces of our lives through hand written letters that crossed state boundaries. The letters super-ceded the number of miles that separated us and for the next four years after she moved, we remained friends… all through the means of hand written letters.

Last week, I began my first week of Heart to HEARTEN with what seemed most natural, the people closest to me: my husband and children. Each morning was a different family member to receive a letter. By Friday, changes were already beginning to occur. In the flurry of morning activity to get everyone in my house ready and out the door for school, I realized two of my kids were sitting at the kitchen table. One looked up at me and asked, “Mom, can you help me find a Bible verse to include in my letter?” They were writing letters, letters to encourage someone else, just as they had been encouraged by the letter I had written them.  They are young and have so much to learn. But I was brought back to the start of my own letter writing experience in fourth grade. I was young and had so much to learn. And yet my life was forever changed through the power of hand written letters, just as theirs can be right before my very eyes.

My Prayer:    Lord, may you change the lives of those receiving these letters, regardless of age or circumstances. May they be encouraged and feel empowered to do all that is required of them each day. But more than that, may the joy in their hearts spill over and be shared with someone else who may need to be encouraged as well.