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Many of the treasures in life were handed down to me by those who wrote, allowing their thoughts to flow through them onto paper, computer screens, and various other devices.
Some expressed themselves verbally by telling stories. Listeners faithfully recorded their spoken words into writing.
Today we have the added benefit of video and audio recording where we can absorb even more of the author’s original intent.
My parents never wrote books or magazine articles. We have no videos with voice.
But they wrote letters. From the time I left home until they died in their 90s, they wrote me a letter every week.
My mother wrote in flowing cursive. As the years went by, her hands shook with age and she expressed frustration that her writing looked “wobbly.” It looked precious to me.
My father always added his letters under hers. His were typed on his old manual typewriter. He said he typed because he “wrote such a poor hand.” He wrote just fine, but his writing was not as fancy as my mother’s. So he typed.
In his later years, when his hands were stiff, he bemoaned that his typewriter “sure made a lot more mistakes than it used to.”
But no matter what was happening, they wrote. Their letters were full of the ordinary events of their small town life … who was getting married, who got a new dog, who had company visiting, what church social events were coming up, who died and when the funeral would be.
They talked of planting in the garden and flower beds. They expressed the joys of the first flowers of spring and the joy of the harvest in the fall when they gathered fruits, vegetables and nuts to share with others.
But also packed in each letter were their observations of life … lessons learned, gifts given and received, gratitude, faith, eager anticipation of the heaven to come.
And always they recounted the ongoing Presence of God in every chapter of their life. My mother summed it up in her last days when she said to my father, “We’ve trusted Him all of our life. How could we do anything else now?”
Each letter was another page in a journey through two lives well lived, a map left for my brother and me. (Both of my parents wrote both my brother and me every week.)
The saddest letters came from Daddy after my mother died. As long as he remained at home, he went to his typewriter and typed. He did this even when we were talking on the phone frequently.
It was his way of continuing on the journey, never breaking stride.
I wish that I had saved every letter they wrote. It would be a treasure to pass on to their grandchildren and great grandchildren. But I do have many of them. I read and reread them.
The advice and encouragement they gave years ago still guides my way.
Besides sharing the joy of reminiscing, I share my writing today to say this. You may think your words are not that important. You may not think of yourself as a writer. You may have any number of reasons not to be a published writer.
But if you write, even privately, one day people you may never have met will read your words and find out more about their family history.
You will not just be a photograph in an old scrapbook somewhere. They will get to peek into your heart and mind. They will get encouragement and guidance from your words.
They will feel connected to a world they never knew except through you.
And you may also be surprised to discover God will allow you to be encouraged by your own words in another season.
Start today. You can start anywhere. Write your autobiography. Write the biography of your parents.
Write letters of appreciation to everyone who helped you in life. Write letters of encouragement to those who need encouragement.
Write out your hopes and dreams. Write your prayers.
If you don’t know what to write, simply be still and know He is God. Ask Him what He would like to say to you. He may remind you of a scripture verse. Or He may have a personal Word just for you. Write it.
Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of The Kingdom of Heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.
Matthew 13:52
Write, for these words are faithful and true!
Revelation 21:5
