What could touch your heart and that of your child?  How about a letter written by your own hand?  There is a bond to establish and maintain when we have offspring.  One way that can last is to document your love for the child in your life.

My husband and I began to write letters to our children on each of their birthdays.  After a few years and busy-ness of my life, rearing four children and maintaining my responsibilities at home and on the farm, I could not keep it up.  My husband, however, being the man of self-discipline that he is, kept on writing to the kids every birthday for all four of them. 

He recapped the children’s past year, chronicled their growth, accomplishments and strengths.  Fun quotes and our emotions as the children grew added substance to the letters.  It also became a good place to pass on some parental wisdom. By the time they were young adults, my husband photocopied them all and gave each child the original letters. 

As I read the letters we wrote, deep emotions bubbled to the surface.  Tears came easily as my mind’s eye pictured the messages on each page.  The memories that are so fleeting set boldly on paper warmed my heart.  The overshadowing of the love-revisited when the children were small, growing and dependent on us enveloped my heart again.  

The letters, we hoped, would connect our hearts again to theirs.  These notes would communicate our love, our sentiments, and our longings for them.  Besides that, we wanted the letters to once again illuminate for our children (and theirs) the days of their youth.  The letters would be a springboard from which our dear ones could reminisce about days gone by.

As we parented our young, we learned about the depth and marvels of God’s love for His sons and daughters that He created and redeemed.  We learned about the parental love and responsibility that God has for us as we experienced it ourselves toward our children.  God has left us a letter to reveal to us His great heart for us…the Holy Bible.  Hence, we decided to leave words of our love to our children.

If this challenges you to begin a letter-writing habit for your children…great!  Be sure to direct them to God and His Word, too.

We have a card or two you may find helpful in our store. 

“Hand in Hand” is pictured here for you above. You may also try, “Family Bible”  or “Be Careful Little Eyes.”  

photo credit: b_d_solis Who Moved My Center by Brian Solis via photopin (license)
Photo credit: drawing by Wenda Grabau