Posts Tagged ‘encouragement’

Encouraging Letters for Children

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

If you can brainstorm some good character qualities for each of your children, you can write an encouraging letters to each of them. Those words will build them up and cause them to want to continue displaying those positive character qualities.

Recently I found these letters, which were written in April 2008. The first two were written by me, the last two by my 7-year-old son Stephen, in response to my letter to him:

Dear Bryan,

I’m glad that you’re learning to focus more on your math. When you put your mind to it, you can do anything!

I’m also proud of you that you are reading your book and don’t daydream as much as before.

I like the Bible studies we do together. I love to talk about God with you. It is fun to answer your questions about God.

I love you, Bryan, and I’m glad that you’re my son!

Love,
Mom

 

Dear Stephen,

Your enthusiasm for life is so fun. Your smile brightens the room. You serve other people with purity of heart, and I love that about you!

Thank you for cleaning up so fast today. Thank you for getting Rachel’s bib so quickly when I asked you. You obey so fast now, and it’s a delight to have you in our family.

I like how you do your math quickly and are diligent. I like how you write your verse without complaining. I also like that I can quote my James verses to you because you know them by heart.

I like how you love God, and I’m glad you’re my son!

Love,
Mom

 

Dear Mom,

I love you, Mom, and thank you for the card you gave me. I thank you that you love me, too. Thank you, thank you!

Love,
Stephen

 

Dear Nathaniel,

Thank you for playing with me, Nathaniel. And I love it when you let me be police. I love you very very very very very much!

Love,
Stephen

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A Forgotten Recommendation Letter

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

recommendation-letterWhile filling out a Linked-In profile yesterday (to get more paid homeschool conference speaking gigs in faraway, exotic cities), I had to fill in a resume. Since I’ve been homeschooling since my children were born almost 12 years ago, I had to look through my files for an old resume, just to remember what it included. While shuffling through papers, I came across this recommendation letter from the principal of the school where I worked for 3 years. It brought a smile to my face:

To Whom It May Concern,

It is my sincere privilege to write a letter of recommendation for Susan Evans. Susan has been teaching three years at Rayzor, and is currently a fifth grade teacher. Her responsibilities now include teaching language arts. She has provided the children with a solid background in grammar and writing.

Susan brings a high level of enthusiasm for her subject matter to the school, and the children respond positively to her obvious love of the subject. She has helped them all become better writers and problem solvers. The last two years, Susan hosted a mystery day where the teachers are in costume, and the children go around the school following clues and using deductive reasoning skills to solve the mystery. They have had a great time!

Susan is willing to take on any task assigned to her, and she was the chairperson for the Spelling Bee this year. Other activities include coordinating two essay contests. She has a lot of energy, and always manages to get things done efficiently and thoroughly.

Our school is a bilingual/ESL campus serving children from many different home languages. Susan’s ability to communicate in Spanish to children and parents has been an asset to us. Susan is able to work with high risk students by providing understanding receptivity to the children, yet maintaining high academic standards.

Susan is a team player and is a member of a closely knit grade level. They plan well together and make joint decisions about what is best for a child. She gets along well with her peers.

I believe Susan will continue to be a wonderful teacher. I can recommend her highly, and would welcome any additional inquiries regarding her. Susan Evans is dedicated to the education of our children.

Sincerely,
Aleta Atkinson

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Encouragement Cards

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

encouragement-card

A wonderful activity that will help build each other up in the body of Christ is to write easy encouragement cards. We did this once in a women’s Bible study at our church. We each had a large card (more than double the size of a 3 by 5 card). Write your name in the middle of the card. Now pass the card to the right. Write down one good character quality you enjoy about that person. After about two minutes, everybody passes their cards to the right. You do this until you have the card with your name on it, with lots of happy, wonderful comments about you on it. I was so overjoyed, I had tears in my eyes. These were some of the comments people said about me:

“Honesty and passion for truth.”

“Your face is the face I look for when I need encouragement. You are such a blessing.”

“Your love and concern for others.”

“My prayer warrior. What a blessing you are.”

“Your faithfulness to pray for people at our church and your zeal to know God’s Word and apply it as His Spirit unveils its relevance to issues in your life.”

“I love your love of truth and your deep conviction.”

“Your prayers for me! Thank you!”

“Loves God’s Word.”

“Love having you and your insights in our group (and love your hair).”

“You’re courageous and strong.”

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