"What do you do? You're just a housewife and slave, aren't you? A nursemaid to a bunch of kids?
No, I have a fantastic job, a terrific career. I am a curator
in a museum--a museum of memories! I am collecting
memories for our family museum."
~Edith Schaeffer, What is a Family?
Some of my favorite childhood memories are the little notes my Mom would leave me. Her "I'm praying for you!" reminders got me through tough days at school and greatly relieved my test anxiety. This introvert hated school, and my Mom's encouraging words and reminders that God was with me were a lifeline for me.
When she was hospitalized once for a week, she left me notes ahead of time. Each envelope was labeled with the day it was to be opened, and inside there would be stickers or a dollar or little Scripture cards.
What memories these notes made for me! Now, I'm a note writer, too. I love to leave my children hugs in words. Their memory boxes are full of pieces of paper from me. Love notes.
But these papers are too easily lost, so I came up with a more lasting way to leave them good words. I decided to use the moleskines (and isn't the moleskine good for almost everything?) and some similar type notebooks.
Each child has his own mailbox and his own moleskine (or other notebook). I write notes in their books and slip them in the mailboxes, sometimes along with a little treat. I found these mailboxes years ago at Target, and I haven't seen any as nice since. But, I'm still looking.
Sometimes the children write notes back to me, and that is very precious, too. It's a gift of grace to find encouraging words waiting for me, especially after days when I've been discouraged or felt defeated.
Here's an example of something I might write....
"Dear __
My precious daughter, you had such a great first reading lesson today! I can't wait to hear you read from God's wonderful Word. I'm so thankful to have the blessing of teaching you many great things.
Love,
Mommy
XO"
"Dear ___
I'm so proud of you for participating in the discussion at ____. I pray you would always see the foolishness of a life not lived by faith. May it always be said of you, my beloved child, that you always did what was right in the sight of the LORD and that you lived by faith, trusting your Savior wholeheartedly.
I love you!
Love,
Mommy
XO"
Why and how?
***who doesn't love to get mail? From oldest to youngest, our children delight at seeing the flag on their mailbox up, knowing encouraging words and perhaps a small gift are waiting for them
***sometimes it's easier to write some things than say them, and these words are a lasting reminder to our children of moments that time too easily dims
***this forces me to slow down, look thoughtfully at the work God is doing in EACH child's life, and make a note of it. As I write, I'm thanking God at the same time for His many mercies He daily gives to our family. I'm praising Him for the work He does in spite of me and my failings.
***I never know if I'll have tomorrow. Life can slip away in an instant, and I want my children to have those words to encourage them and remind them of my love, God's love, and His goodness to them.
***I want my children to be encouragers, to use their words to bless instead of curse, to be intentional about giving others the gift of good words
***I LOVE being a memory-maker, the curator, as Mrs. Schaeffer puts it, of our family museum
This is not a costly tradition to start, but the dividends are endless. What a gift God has given us to impress memories on the hearts of our children that reflect His glory and speak of His constant goodness and mercy.
This time of year is a perfect one to be on the lookout for mailboxes! :)
Much love,
Trisha
***originally posted at my A Multitude of Mercies blog in Feb. 2011
What a great idea! I've left a note here and there for my kids (usually it's when it's late and I cannot sleep but they are on my mind) and they loved them. I should do it more often.
ReplyDeleteLove the mailboxes...
What a wonderful idea! I'll have to keep that in mind as the kids get bigger.
ReplyDeleteI love the Edith Schaeffer quote.
I loved your post then and I love it still. I had just told someone about your mailboxes and notes last month. Love and hugs!
ReplyDeleteI've never found little letterboxes like that, but I do have little notebooks in which to write notes to my little treasures - and they LOVE getting notes and writing notes back. :) Such a brilliant way to make lasting memories. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea! How blessed your children are!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend Trisha!
This is a wonderful idea! Our words will leave a lasting impression on our children!
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful idea and you are a great mother, dear Trisha!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Sandy
What a great idea- using books. Sweet, sweet memories tucked away safe and sound. Do you date them? I would date the envelope my notes were tucked in, so wondered if you date them.
ReplyDeleteNeat, neat idea. :)
I love your mailboxes!! Very very cute!!
ReplyDeleteI did this with my oldest dtr for a while except we'd just pass the notebook back and forth after writing in it. It was fun to do and still fun to read.
Such a great reminder to start this again. What better pen pals than your own children :-)
~Cinnamon
Great encouragement here, Trisha. Like Cinnamon, I do this with my oldest daughter and now my oldest son in a journal. We call it the Pass-It-Back journal. Shamefully, my children write and draw me FAR more notes than I do for them. This encourages me to initiate more often. BTW, we found those mailboxes at Target last year in the "dollar" area but you are correct that they are not quite as nice as the ones you have here. But alas, we didn't have space for the mailboxes so we did journals instead.
ReplyDeleteMy mother in law picked up and decorated three boxes for my three little ones! I told her last year about the idea and how I wanted to do this! She found them this year and we got them tonight. Lily said she couldn't wait to see her flag up! Sweetness!
ReplyDelete