For January, I wrote a follow-up post to my letter about Massachusetts (you can read about that here) and so I shared about Florida. I explained to the kids in my previous letter that I grew up in Massachusetts but then moved to Florida, so I thought I'd share about the beauty of the Gulf Coast (and I was able to find 3 great photos!). I asked each child if they lived near a body of water, like an ocean or lake. I know that I could look these up (and probably will!) but for the purpose of building a relationship, I wanted to ask each kid. Here is a copy of the boy version.
I also shared Lamentations 3:22-26 with them as it had really been encouraging me that week and I thought it might encourage them also: "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord," (NKJV). And a copy of the girl version.
Then for my February letter, I thought I'd write a "Happy Easter" letter since it can take up to 3 months for the kids to receive the letters. (I think this is the first time that I'm actually on time with a letter!) I shared that we celebrate the Passover during the week before Easter and that they can read about the first Passover in Exodus 12 and about Jesus' celebration of the Passover in Luke 22. I also shared that on Easter Sunday, we have a custom of saying, "He is risen!" when we see people and they answer back with, "He is risen indeed." Here's the front of the letter.
And I asked our kids if they have any customs or traditions for celebrating Easter. I then shared the lyrics of the Third Day song, "Children of God", and was able to share with the kids that if we accept Jesus as our Savior, then we can also be called children of God! And I ended the letter by asking each child if he or she had accepted Jesus as his or her Savior. I also found two neat Easter-themed coloring pages which I included instead of photos on the template. And here is the back of the letter.
And, as always, feel free to take any of these ideas and please share any ideas that you have!
