Podcast Episode #473
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Handwritten notes are a lost art for many. Today, we discuss why they are so important and how you can use them to boost encouragement in your church and ministry.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Cultivating a habit of writing handwritten notes will increase your spirit of gratitude.
- Writing handwritten notes takes your focus off the negativity in ministry and places it on the positives.
- When you write notes of gratitude to others, your attitude becomes more positive as a result.
- With just 30-minutes a week of writing handwritten notes, you can dramatically improve the positivity in your ministry.
The seven reasons we discuss are:
- It moves you to a spirit of gratitude.
- It reminds you of the blessings God has given you.
- It takes the focus off negativity in the church
- It is incredibly rewarding to the recipients.
- It changes the ethos and culture of the church.
- It improves personal relationships.
- It happens 365 times a year.
Resources mentioned in today’s podcast
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Feedback
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Becoming a Welcoming Church.
I served as a Deacon for several months prior to coming on the staff of our home church. When my time to man the prayer room came around, I was praying for various church members and just decided to write a brief note to those for whom I had prayed. Three weeks later, one of those members approached me, thanked me for praying and writing, and said that was the first time he had ever had someone from the church write to say they were praying for him. It is powerful!
That is great, Bob.
Been doing this over my 30 years of ministry but not with the consistency you mention. I have found that when I do it people always are very appreciative of the effort it takes in these days of text messaging and emails. You’ve challenged me to be more regular in this area of giving thanks and appreciation!
I sent a handwritten card to a 96 year old lady I had prayed for that morning. Mailed it and forgot about it.
Early the next week I found a card in my church mailbox. It was hand printed and read: “It may be a bit much to thank you for a card. However, I’m saying thanks for your happy thoughts; more thanks for your prayer.
P.S. Receiving your card made my day happy!” and she signed her name.
Our women’s ministry has started writing hand written notes and cards. Our women had become complacent and non committed to lots of things… attendance to events, fellowship, other involvement etc. The older people seemed to isolate themselves and would not accept help. My team prayed about what to do. Our theme became “nurturing our women” for lack of a better description. A part of what we did was the notes. It has been amazing to see how God has worked through these hand written notes. They began to express their gratitude. Many women seem happier and are interacting with other women. Service projects for the older women have sprung up giving us the opportunity to bless them in a different way. We are on our way to something bigger than ourselves because of those notes and cards. Thanks be to God for what He has done.