Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Letters

I totally stole this idea from a friend of mine but I'm so glad I did!! When her son turned 16 she had the men in his life write him letters. They even came over and read the letters to him.  I had no idea what their letters said but I loved the idea.

For Sam's 16th birthday, we asked 16 men in his life to write him a letter.  We asked them to tell him why they are proud of him and what they expected from him in the future.  We chose family members, church leaders, coaches and family friends to write to Sam.  

All I can say is WOW! These men came through in a big way.  They mailed, emailed or gave me the letters and I compiled them into a notebook.  I got to read each letter.  I was so touched by the time and effort each man put into their letter.  

It was wonderful to read what these men see in Sam.  It was heart warming to read the advice they offered him.  I cried a million tears reading these letters.  I was so touched.  

Zac had an away basketball game on Sam's birthday.  After the game, we had ice cream cake (Sam's request) at home and gave Sam the notebook.  The first letter in the notebook is from Ryan. Sam read it and closed the notebook.  "I can't take this right now."  He immediately understood the significance of the letters.

We are so blessed to have a wonderful village to help us raise our boys.  The 16 men are diverse in their backgrounds, life experiences and professions.  But they all had a common theme - trust the LORD.  Lean on Him, trust Him, build a relationship with Him.  I love our village!

As I read the letters, I yearned to write Sam one of my own.  But, I'm a rule follower so I just put an index card in the back pocket of the notebook with this verse.



I pray that God uses the letters to develop Sam and bring him closer to Him. 

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