Yesterday I ran across a Mother’s Day letter that my daughter had written to me almost 10 years ago. What sweet and encouraging words those were! I felt awash with gratitude and emotion. Sometimes I feel like I save too many things, but I have no regrets about saving correspondence.
Today, I was looking through an old Bible cover of mine – time to throw it away (but not the old Bible in it, the first one I ever owned as a young Christian). Tucked away in the side of the Bible cover I came across some old notes of encouragement written by some sisters in Christ in Indiana before we moved to Minnesota in 1997. I sat down and read through them, greatly moved and, again, encouraged. Some of you may remember that back in 2021 when our car was broken into and some of our belongings stolen, the loss that grieved me the most was my Bible. It was my second Bible, filled with all sorts of underlinings and marginal notes by me. But also, I had kept a collection of encouraging notes in the Bible cover that had been sent to me over the years. I was sad to lose those as well. What a blessing to find these other older notes that I’d forgotten about, like a hidden treasure!
Best of all was finding the note written to me by one of our deacons back in Indiana, a solid Christian man named Mac Lockard who had grown up in the foster care system. I was having a perfectly rotten Sunday at church that day, struggling to keep our two little boys from misbehaving, my husband being out of town. (I’ve written about this before on this blog, but it bears repeating.) After the service, Mac gave me this note and it nearly made me cry.
He paid me the ultimate compliment of telling me not only that I was a good mother, but that if he were young, he would have wanted a mother like me, and that he would have been pleased to have a daughter like me. I cherished that note and read it over occasionally on days when I was needing to hear it again. A few years later I had left it out on a desk and my little mischievous twins found it and cut it into pieces. I saved what I could find and taped it back together. But in recent years I never knew where it was and assumed it had been lost.
Thank you to all of you who have written words of encouragement to me over the years. They are words to remember.
I’ll probably cut this in pieces in the morning and then y’all will have to tape it together.
Lynniebeemuseoday 
I was thinking of your lost notes- those in the car. Perhaps- God had purposed to have someone else see those notes for which He used in their hearts. Just a thought.
I am so thankful for your blog. For what God has given you to share. They are inspiration and encouragement to me. Thank you!
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Thank you, Julie! I love the idea that someone else might have found my Bible and read God’s word and even those notes! I always assumed that the Bible got thrown in a dumpster, but you never know. I’m glad to know that what I write can be an encouragement to others! ❤️
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I’ve kept many of my kids’ sweet and sometimes funny cards and notes and letters over the years. So fun and loving to read. Thank you for sharing this story. I’ve also been blessed with friends along the way that have encouraged and supported me in many ways, (Thank you for being one of them), and I keep reminders from them.
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I knew you were a kindred spirit in that way! ❤️
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