I love everything about this idea. Letter writing saved my life! When I moved in my senior year of high school, when I launched out at a college where I knew not a soul, when I moved overseas to live and work in England for seven months, and when I courted my husband during graduate school, letter writing kept me going. I still keep a stack of those old letters in my closet. I may not read them often, but they are too significant to throw away. They were a lifeline to sanity when loneliness might have driven me crazy.
Crazy! That's what Amy Weinland Daughters must have been to embark on this daunting task. But, how cool! Amy noticed a Facebook friend, Dana, posting about her son's battle with cancer. When the mother and son moved to Memphis for his treatment at St. Jude's, Amy felt compelled to send letters. Sadly, the stricken son died. Amy recalled a comment by a neighbor who, after grieving her lost husband, mentioned that at some point the casseroles and letters cease. Amy didn't want that to happen to her Facebook friend, even though they hadn't seen one another in thirty years. But how to continue expressing her condolences and prayers? She didn't even have an address for Dana. This little realization triggered something that resonated deep within. The impact of receiving a handwritten letter is incalculable. What if Amy wrote a letter (not just a note, but a 2-pager) to every Facebook connection she had?
What's even crazier? She put feet to the plan. She created a spreadsheet, placed the names in a box, pulled out each name, and wrote to each individual, no matter how close or distant in life. I rarely highlight passages in memoirs, but I did so in this book. The exercise changed Amy's heart, and mine too. I wanted to share a few of those nuggets, but in writing them down, they took up almost two pages. Here are a few key points: small, everyday actions can morph into big things; writing letters is therapeutic for both the sender and receiver; intentional letters have no monetary value, but exponential personal worth; and our interactions with people can change us if we remain open and teachable, looking for that potential in even seemingly insignificant or limited relationships (i.e., Facebook friends you have never even met but connected with through some random situation).
She presented one concept I'd love to explore more. Dana asked Amy to join in a 5K for cancer awareness. The physical exertion of this was more than Amy was accustomed to (after health issues). Her observation about praying through the physical pain struck me. She wrote, "Not only did turning my focus to God get me through the next lap, I prayed in a way I never had before. Being depleted physically seemed to augment me spiritually." I'm guessing this principle might apply to fasting as well. Hmm.
As her sister-in-law said, "Don't think that your words aren't life to someone and aren't well received if they don't quite know how to respond." So often, we crave feedback from what we send out into the world. This is inspiration and encouragement for writing, as well as posting on Facebook. Amy wrote, "The key is to... continue to press on boldly... regardless of any lack of feedback." She encourages the reader to never let a lack of "likes" keep you from sharing something that might help another individual.
Amy's correspondence with Dana was life-giving. She gave of herself in prayer and writing. Dana responded, "Know that every word you write matters!" In the same way, through her Facebook letter writing project, Amy learned, "Being connected to each was far more than an exercise in randomness and instead a very deliberate pattern that meant God had been looking out for me through relationships from the beginning."
Deal for today only: To the first five individuals who send me their email that is attached to their Kindle account (you can easily read with the Kindle for PC or Kindle on phone app), I will gift you a copy of this e-book. Express your interest and send your email address to wendy@wendygortonhill.com. Merry Christmas and happy reading and letter writing!
No comments:
Post a Comment