Letter Writing Day

Last February 1st we celebrated Letter Writing Day together. Last night I remembered and quickly alerted lots of my friends that I knew would be into this too. People with big hearts, so much creativity and plenty of love to share with their friends. Today we wrote the old-fashioned way, no keyboards or technology involved.

My favorite part of getting pictures of letters from people today was hearing the back story on so many of them. A letter to someone that is having a hard time with friends. A letter of apology. Many that went above and beyond to send five letters out. A letter to a cousin that recently passed away, addressed to heaven. A letter to a teacher. Letters to far away friends. A letter to a sponsored kid.

 Kid President's Pep Talk video went viral this week because people believe in his inspirational message. He says, "If life is a game, aren't we on the same team? I mean really. You're on my team. I'm on your team. We can make every day better for each other. If we're all on the same team let's start acting like it. We've got work to do." I think a great way to start doing that is writing some letters.

Someone you know needs to be reminded that they are loved. Someone you know needs to know that they matter. You can make someone smile today. A letter from you can give them the encouragement they need to go out there and do something great. Your support could make all the difference. Sure, you could send them a text too, but that's boring. A letter waiting in your mailbox when you get home screams fun.

I hope that so many mail men had bags that were a bit heavier today. And in the next few days all those letters will magically end up in the right place. If any one can explain that process to me I would greatly appreciate it. The U.S. Postal Service continues to be one of life's biggest mysteries. I hope that the recipients of all those letters will find some joy when they open up their mailbox. Maybe they'll even break out some markers and paper to hand-write a letter of their own.

After letter-writing day in 2012 my Hope College friend Melissa Van Dahm sent me a challenge: Letter Writing Month. The basic premise is to write a letter every mail day in the month. I decided to give it a shot and in the 28 days of February wrote 40 letters. (Melissa actually ended up doing a Letter Writing Year!) Some days it was hard to find a few spare minutes but it was always worth it. This year I'm going to do it again. Want to join me?