LOVE LETTERS

Yesterday was a full day for me:  up early to see the college man off, then a bit of reading, start the first load of laundry, followed by a scramble to catch up on emails, messages, etc. Then, Helen and I headed to campus for her dual-enrollment classes. While she studied French and logarithms, I spent a few hours editing Fiction Manuscript #3 (I LOVE this story - can't wait to share it with you!).

I packed lunch so we could scarf down sandwiches on our way to Helen's piano lessons. Helen worked on beautiful music at Mrs. Linda's, and I ran errands in town and even squeezed in a 15-minute walk at Veteran's Park. Back home, we tackled additional school work, then, while Helen read geography, I washed a couple of windows.

(Instead of 30 Days of Dominion, I have created a new cleaning challenge for this spring:  30 Days of Windows and Cabinets. I wash a couple of windows each day, instead of trying to clean them all in one go - will move onto kitchen cabinets when I finish the windows. So far, I'm halfway around the downstairs, and it is wonderful to be able to see the green field and blue sky without having to look through a 6-month-old crust of spider webs and gunk!)

Next, I moved on to writing and speaking projects. I kept up a pretty hard pace all the way into the evening. After Wednesday night church, I decided to go ahead and clean the floors and bathrooms (normally those are Thursday chores), because I did not get to both of those last week (my floors were crunchy) and because I knew we'd be keeping one of the grandbabies this morning. I'm not too old to remember:  housework doesn't often happen when you are chasing active little children! After I finished the downstairs floors, Helen and I double-teamed the bathrooms.

Are you out of breath yet from reading all of this? Because I am out of breath from writing it!

Yesterday was long, full, productive, exhausting. When I finally closed down the house sometime after 10:30, I was ready for a good night's rest!

That's when I found this note on my pillow:  "Love you to the stars and back, 'cause that's farther than the moon by tons and tons, and I love you that much... - Helen"

So, I crashed into bed last night not only tired, but also smiling.

Handwritten notes of encouragement are like crystallized sunshine. Like gold nuggets. They are precious jewels that reflect light and beauty long after they are penned.

In addition to my Clean Windows/Clean Cabinets spring challenge, I created another challenge for myself this spring:  every week day, I want to write one note of encouragement to another person. Paper and pen (stamp and envelope!) are best, but, if I can't manage that, I shift to email or Facebook message. I know how much written notes of encouragement I have received over the years have meant to me, and I want to give that kind of encouragement to others.

Funny thing is, I am learning that writing these "love letters" - with the intention of blessing someone else - actually blesses me, too.

Why don't you join me? Write a word of encouragement today!

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Because coffee and books go so well together...

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