I knew its printed message would make him smile.
But I also knew it was lacking. The printed words weren’t enough.
It needed a personal touch.
To make it specially from me.
Specially for him.
Handwriting does that.
Who writes long-hand anymore?
It’s much quicker to type, to text, to IM.
I count handwriting as a gift. I don’t give it as often as I used to.
Nor receive it as often.
But handwriting is personal. It speaks extra.
It gives more than words. It gives a piece of you.
And as I was giving Monday in a card on a dresser, another hand in another part of town was writing, stamping, mailing to my address.
The card arrived quietly yesterday.
No beeping sounds. No booming “You’ve got mail!” No vibrations.
Just softly tucked in my real mailbox among bills and flyers.
The handwritten words made me cry. They not only said sweet things, they spoke personality. In the curve of the letters, the placement on the page, the scratch-throughs and underlines and true smiley-faces.
God chose hand-written words.
He gift-wrapped His message to us in them.
Although we now read them on screens and in books, each word started out meticulous formed, letter by letter, copied over and over by hand, until it quietly and softly arrived in each heart.
So I write my love letters to Him by hand. 
pen to paper,
head to heart,
child to Father.
It requires my time. My attention. My heart-labor.
A personal message—hand-written—from me.
In response to…
A personal message—hand-written—from Him.
Can we keep the gift alive?
* * *
It’s a little thing, but it’s a gift of love in time.
When have you last written a message of love by hand?
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11 comments:
I love this thought of a handwritten note to and from God. I write in my journal Dear God.... so often. I am glad to see I am not the only one.
nodding my head as I read...um-hmmm....
the personal touch...means SO much. that little email that comes speaks words to our heart, but the person that takes time to pick a card or a sheet of stationary, sit down intentionally, and write it out....address it ...stamp it....mail it....oh my. I want to start being that way...again. And I used to journal in big fat pretty hardback notebook. bible lessons from the day...poetry...things going on in life and marriage...and it now sits...perhaps dusty...and now I keyboard, email....blog...(call and text)...I read your post and I feel convicted...I feel GUILTY. your words are digging. I have been struggling about blogging lately...I am making decisions...looking for not just the good....but the BETTER. Not just the easy and comfortable, but the harder and the stretching. And so...thank you, Lisa. Again. Another good read for this morning before I take off. I will ponder and consider. And I like the writing to God part! :-) And I REALLY like the flirty card part. :-) :-)
Hugs to you bloggy sis...xo
Lisa, this is such a beautifully written post. I've really been struggling with some things of late. Your post has put a couple of those things into perspective for me. Thanks so much.
Hugs to you.
I do love hand written notes, so much more personal and one of the number one ways I receive love! Thanks for the reminder to slow down, to be more personal, to give time to giving ourselves more deeply.
Julie,
“looking for not just the good…but the BETTER.” You convict me too, sister. The stretching is never comfortable for me. And then sometimes after the stretching, it’s hard to know where to bounce back to… Praying for you to feel God’s presence in the fullest way as changes blow in your direction.
Dianna,
I love how God uses our words to each other to send us messages from himself. He is so awesome! Another reason to praise.
I have recently begun writing letters again. There really is nothing like the heart in ink on paper. I have certain friends who often send encouragement to my mailbox, not just my "inbox". Beautiful reminder her Lisa.
It's so rare to get anything hand-written any more. My mom hated to write letters and usually called, but the few hand-written things I have from her are treasures.
I love that God gave us His written word for us to pore over again and again.
I agree that seeing the handwriting of a loved one stirs my heart. Each person's "hand-print" when they write in this manner is so unique. I can tell who a letter or card is from when I retreive it from my mailbox just from the look of the script.
Among my handwritten treasures are a varitey of cards from friends now gone - such poignant remembrances of their thoughtfulness when here.
And my Mom - so many treasures remain with her handwriting including recipe cards as well as love notes.
I totally agree - it has become a lost art but for the priceless pieces we "own" - nothing compares.
Lynn,
I love how we can identify the writer just by seeing their script. I have recipes from my mom and mother-in-law that I recognize at a glance by their writing.
And a MOST prized treasure that I have is this:
My mom wrote letters throughout her adult life to us 4 kids and put them in envelopes marked, “Don’t read until after my death.”
Well, we discovered them before she died, and I didn’t wait. They were beautiful testimonies of God’s faithfulness in her own life and encouragement for us to stay strong in our faith and to stay together. I haven’t read them since she died because it’s just too sad now.
But I will read them again soon. And maybe write about them. Maybe even by hand. :-)
I found your blog through a comment you left on Faith's Gold in the Clouds blog. I love this article about personal hand writing. I LOVE to use pen and paper and pretty penmanship, and I am hoping to instill the same love into my children (who are very young now), as this seems to be sadly forgotten, and yet more treasured.
Today I followed you over from Ann's. Lisa, what a personal touch you've put on "time" - the whole handwriting messages thing. I heart that. It is a beautiful thought. I might change my memorizing over to memorizing Philippians by hand - rather than the book. A thought.
God bless.
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