My Mom’s Card Ministry

In a world full of anxiety and despair, a simple act of kindness can change someone’s day. A kind word, a compliment, a word of encouragement, a smile, something as simple as holding the door for someone, can change that person’s outlook and perception of themselves. There are an endless number of simple, thoughtful things that can be done in kindness for someone. Today, I would like to tell you about one in particular, my mother’s card ministry.

            My mother was so much more of a “people person” than I am. She made friends wherever she went. As a result, she had a vast number of friends, high school classmates from 50 years ago, fellow church members, current and former employees in the family business, and just people she had met from every town we had ever lived in. It’s not easy to stay in contact with that many people, but she did, through her card ministry.

            Each year, Mom would get a calendar, just one of the cheap ones given out by the bank in December for the following year, and she would mark down everyone’s birthday and anniversary. Not just the family, but Mom collected people’s birthdays like other people collect coins or tea cups. Every birthday or anniversary she learned of went on the calendar. If she knew the person’s age or number of years they had been married, she noted that, too. There was hardly a week on her calendar that didn’t have at least one event marked on it. She then purchased a roll of stamps and boxes of inexpensive cards, birthday, anniversary, thinking of you, get well and sympathy. Whatever the occasion, she was prepared for it.

            Every week or two, she would sit down and prepare her cards for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries. She would write just a simple “Happy Birthday” and sign her name, nothing elaborate. She would then stack them up in the order they needed to be mailed, and would mail each one a couple of days ahead of time so that it would arrive as near the person’s special day as possible. At Christmastime, stacks of Christmas cards were signed and mailed. If Mom knew of someone who was sick, or someone who had experienced a death in the family, cards went out to those folks, too.

            You cannot imagine how much people looked forward to and enjoyed these cards. When Mom passed away, nearly everyone we talked to mentioned how much they loved Mom’s cards and how much they were going to miss receiving them. In a world of technology, text messaging, and emails, receiving a simple, old-fashioned card in the mail was an act of kindness with untold blessings. Mom was blessed in remembering all her friends and family, and the recipients were all blessed by being remembered at least once a year in a tangible, heartfelt way.

            You may be thinking that is a huge endeavor, one you could never keep up with. And you may be right. I fell heir to Mom’s card collection when she passed, and tried to send cards to at least all the family members and local friends. I couldn’t keep up. Mom had a heartfelt gift for her special ministry. Not everyone has that gift. But everyone can send out a card or two every now and then, when someone is ill, has a loved one pass away, or perhaps is just going through a difficult time.  It is a simple, inexpensive way to reach out and touch someone in a personalized way that means so much. It is the kind of thing that brings love and joy into a sometimes dark, unkind world.