by Mary DeMuth
To say I had difficulties with my in-laws would be an understatement. Things got so bad right when we were first married (nearly 30 years ago now!) that we had to separate in order to heal. Since then, it’s been a rough slog toward reconciliation, isolation and trying to repair what had been broken. Even after all that, our relationship felt tenuous.
A couple years ago, I thought about my husband’s parents and their three adult kids. All three had maintained long-term, supportive marriages. It was then I felt that familiar nudge of the Holy Spirit to write a note to my in-laws.
Truly, I only wrote about two small paragraphs, maybe 50 words. In it I conveyed something to the effect of, “I wanted to thank you for the example your marriage has been to all of us. You should be proud of the legacy you’re leaving.”
About a year after that, the card memory long forgotten, I found myself in their town with a free couple of hours. I surprised them with a call and asked if we could meet for dinner.
“Come over to the place first,” my father-in-law said.
There, they took me on a tour of their tidy home (I hadn’t seen their new place yet). They had a hallway with a bend in it where a small round table sat, adorned with a table cloth. “Come see this,” he said.
Together, they pointed to the top of the table where a candle, a dried rose in a vase and the card I sent them stood.
“We read it all the time,” he said. “Thank you. It meant so much to us.”
Standing there in the bend of the hallway, I sensed God tell me that those 50 or so words were some of the most important ones I had ever written.
I’ve written 43 books, but that Holy Spirit-prompted card became pregnant with purpose and kingdom significance.
My encouragement to you: listen to the voice of the Spirit when He prompts you to send a card to someone. It may just change the landscape of someone’s life forever.
I have designed cards just for this type of purpose on my Etsy shop. Click here to see my greeting cards: https://www.etsy.com/listing/613221403/12-greeting-cards-4-of-each-design-425-x?ref=shop_home_active_27&frs=1&crt=1
I also designed 31 Scripture art cards for you to slip into a note to a friend. These are square (unfolded) like a postcard, and they boast Scriptures from the Old and New Testament. Use them to help your kids memorize Scripture, or send them to a struggling loved one. Find them here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/797338557/31-scripture-cards?ref=shop_home_active_9&frs=1&crt=1
Mary DeMuth is an author of more than forty books, a podcaster at Pray Every Day, an artist and a literary agent with a passion for the Lord. She and her husband, Patrick, have three adult children and reside near Dallas, Texas. You can find her at PrayEveryDay.show, MaryDeMuth.com, WeToo.org, WriterMastermind.com.