THE FLOWER

025 – SEPTEMBER 2005

1 Cor 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, love; and the greatest of these is love.”

There are different ways to communicate love and encouragement. I rank a few methods in the following order:

Love Communication Impact
1. Hand written letter. The very best. Grade A+
2. A personal visit with a love communication purpose. Very nice. Grade A
3. A phone call. Not too bad either. Grade B+
4. E-Mail. Personally – Yuck! Not the best for exchanging great and personal thoughts but …
it is better than saying nothing at all. Grade C-
5. Nothing at all. Grade F

In the midst of all the bills, advertising and magazines - I still get excited to discover a nice love letter or a note of encouragement. It’s like a flower in the midst of a bunch of dreaded weeds. I don’t open the letter too quickly. First, I pull the weeds (sort the junk mail) and then I slowly pick the flower. I savor the moment of reading something special from someone who not only was thinking about you but also took the time to write a special letter.

Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.”

In a time when life can be hectic and the world can be filled with sorrows, we need to take the time to express our love to those we sometimes take for granted.
With all this in mind - I determined that I would be a letter writer.

In 1981, I wrote a letter to my 11 year old daughter, Christy. It was a simple love letter and included things like: “I love you.”, “I love the way you smile.”, “I love the way you listen when I have some fatherly philosophy to share.”, “I love the way you dance and flit around the house.” “I love you way too much.”
I addressed the envelope, added a stamp and dropped the hand written letter in the mail box. The next day I came home from work and Christy greeted me at the door. She jumped in my arms and with bubbling great enthusiasm said “I love you so much, Daddy!” … and then she left.
Think about it! It was just a little love letter. And, the response was only 10 seconds of my time on Earth … but I will never forget that glorious time when Christy jumped into my arms.

Isaiah 50:4 “The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary …”

You must have a list of folks that need hope, encouragement, a thank you or a some sincere words of love. Take a minute and drop a note to someone. When they sort the mail, they’ll find a beautiful and priceless flower in the midst of their everyday weeds.
You might do it now, while it’s on your mind.
And, as we are all creatures of habit(s) – “flower sending” would be a good one to have.