Are Thank You Cards Extinct?

One of the very last of my typewriter thank you cards by Markings:(

I received a real thank you card in the mail last month.

I'd spent some time helping out a friend and she sent me the most beautiful card to thank me.

It was wonderful to find a pleasant piece of old-fashioned mail in my mail box for a change.
I could hold it in my hand. I could read the handwriting and feel the hug that she sent.

Most of all I felt really happy that she went through the trouble to pick that card out, think of something sweet to write and actually paid for a stamp and mailed it.

With the amount of text messaging and emails people send everyday, a 'thank you' is most likely passed off as a quick abbreviation: T.Y. (or the one I use most is TU).

How do you say a sincere thank you? And when was the last time you received one?

Do you send letters or cards, do you make a phone call, or just send a quick-high-tech-message and hope that the receiver feels the 'warm & fuzzy' you're trying to express?

Sacrifice

Today is Ash Wednesday A.K.A. Lent

What does Lent mean to you? Do you celebrate it?

I’ve listed some links that briefly (and not-so-briefly) describe Lent.

Practices during lent can be summed up into one word: sacrifice. And regardless of what faith you are or where you're at in your spiritual journey, we can all relate to sacrifice and the need for it.

Without giving something up we would never be able to fully appreciate what we have or what has been sacrificed for us. 

This About.com article describes what Lent is and who is most likely to celebrate it (the link has Christianity in its title, but lists several different faiths. (And if you are uninterested in learning about Lent, feel free to skip to the bottom of the blog.)

http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/qt/whatisashwednes.htm

Other sites of interest regarding descriptions of Lent:

http://www.crivoice.org/cylent.html

http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Feb2002/Family.asp

This next link is an great visual of the symbols used, or that can be used, during Lent to signify certain things:

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/symbols.html

If you aren’t into Lent, and prefer not to give anything up, I urge you to at least take a few moments to appreciate the simple things that you experience every day, like:

• Clean water

• Clean air

• Freedom

• Love

......Because it's so easy to take for granted things we do (and have) everyday....when not everyone is so lucky.

Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.”

Henri Frederic Amiel quotes (Swiss writer known for his masterpiece Journal intime, 1821-1881)

 

Truly,

Amber

'Are We There Yet!??'

I can hear the birds chirping!

We are finally witnessing sunsets (the whole neighborhood was Facebooking about it the other day!) and little by little some of the ice is melting….

On Sunday I wore a coral colored sweater to church and many of the choir members wore spring colors as well; greens, pinks and light blues!

We are all hopeful for spring!

I’ve been so eager to open my cars sunroof and feel the warm air and smell the spring breeze while driving down the highway…but sadly, if I did I would freeze; there is nothing to smell and even though we haven’t needed long johns under our clothes for the last few days, the air is far from being warm....

We are not there yet…It is still winter.

We just have to hold out for a little over a month and then we’re home free!

I think as much as I do love winter and snow, several weeks of dreariness in a row can wear on a person. The bitter cold and bone-chilling, icy days are no fun.

The dead of winter is much like being in a rut in life; too much of the same old, same old. It can feel awful day-after-day waking up to the same cloud hanging over our head.

Bleak forecasts give way to discouraging outlooks; so much that we can’t see the green grass beneath the snowy path never mind the silver lining within the clouds.

So, to break the winter doldrums in mid-February, many retailers will use brighter colors and bigger sales. Magazines will publish much more motivating and exciting content and new diets will be out momentarily. They know, this is the last stretch and we need a little something more to make it through.

Some of these things might work for well for some people, but I think when life’s ruts are big, we need something more; and not a ‘thing’ at all.

It can be more encouraging to not list material things at all, but write down things that many of us experience. Things that make our day bright, even if the sun is not shining and the ones that without, life  would feel unbearable.

Let us appreciate blessings like:

The sun

Clean running water

A roof over our heads

The gifts of sight, sound and touch

 Our loved ones

The freedom to worship

The opportunity to learn

…Just to name a few…

So even if the weatherman doesn’t predict tomorrow to be a sunny day…

Make it one yourself!

‘Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.'– Anthony J. D’Angelo

Truly,

Amber