Dear Friends,
I believe encouragement is one of the greatest
motivators a person can possess, and so I am consciously on the lookout for
ways to encourage people.
Everyone needs encouragement; it is ‘oxygen
to the soul’, and we can’t live very long without it.
Someone was once asked “How do you know if
someone needs it. “Simple,” he said, “if they are breathing, they need it, and
if they are not, don’t worry about it!"
Many years ago, while teaching and coaching
at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fl., I started delivering
lollipops and handwritten greetings to each student on his or her birthday.
I would ask each student’s teacher to provide me with a two or three
sentence capsule of something positive about the student who was celebrating a
birthday. I would then incorporate that information into my birthday letter for
the student to read.
On the morning of the student’s birthday, I
would walk into the class and stand next to the birthday recipient as I
delivered my birthday letter along with a Tootsie Pop. In that letter I would
always include something positive like: “I hear that you are so
loving to everyone in your class, and there is not a parent, teacher, or
classmate that doesn’t agree that you are the nicest kid you could ever meet.”
What student wouldn’t be encouraged to
receive such a compliment, and for that matter, what adult wouldn’t be thrilled
to read such words as well.
I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to go
into the classroom every day and deliver a Tootsie Pop along with my
birthday note. In presenting the birthday greeting, I would often read
out loud what I had said about the student so all the students could hear those
words of affirmation.
After six years when the school had grown to
over 1,000 students, I found it was taking me almost two hours a day just to
write and deliver all those birthday greetings, so sadly I had to give up the
tradition.
But in all my years of teaching, coaching and
pastoring, I have never done anything that reaped greater rewards
than this ministry. Even today I still hear from a student or parent who
had saved those letters and wanted to tell me how much they meant to them.
And by the way, most of those students never
figured out how I could know the information I had written about them. To them,
I was the simply the ‘Tootsie Pop pastor,’ who possessed the magical
ability to know all about their lives. And what fun it was to play along with
them while reminding them of my amazing clairvoyant powers.
I won’t go into the impetus for my commitment
to letter writing, for it entails more than just birthday greetings. Suffice to
say, its genesis was fashioned long ago in the handwritten notes I received
from a coach, a pastor, a mom, and a congregation that helped change my life
forever.
Pastor and writer Chuck Swindoll expresses it
far better than I ever could in his devotional book Day by Day. In a
message he simply titled ‘Handwriting’, he states, “There is nothing quite like
the charm and personal touch conveyed by a handwritten note. Since our
penmanship, like our fingerprint, is altogether unique, each curve of the
letter or stroke of the pen bears its own originality. There is personality and
warmth and, yes, special effort too; for, after all, it’s more efficient to
click on the PC, bang out a few lines on the keyboard, and print it. But,
occasionally, it’s nice to think some still care enough to throw efficiency to
the winds and look you right in the eye with the harmonious movement of their
thoughts and fingers.”
Chuck concludes his devotional with these
words: “Let’s not allow the speed and efficiency of our high-tech society to
crowd out the personal touch. The meaning and expression your fingers add to
your words is worth all the effort, regardless of how poor your penmanship may
be.”
I can honestly say that delivering lollipops
and birthday greetings was one of the most valuable ministries I have ever
undertaken, for what could be more valuable than helping to make someone feel
loved and appreciated.
So my friends, would you get out that pen and
that note paper, and begin writing. You’ll be glad you did, but your recipient
will be even gladder.
Yours in faith,
Tom
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