Many people dispise email and especially the "forwards". I try to find good in things and see that someone took the time to send me something they enjoyed and I try to find the parts they saw value in. If I cannot see what they saw, I will write and ask them why that email touched them, sometimes the answers are really funny, but you learn alittle more about the person and may actually see the message as beneficial. Sometimes it just makes us stop for a minute and really think. Time spent on people, if genuine and with love, is never a waste of time. A few of the emails that get pasted around are not accurate or uplifting and when those come through I dump them. (If you do not stand against it, you stand with it, be careful what message you send.)
When I do send an email on, I put a personal note at the top, highlighting what I found inspiring or enjoyable about it, usually some little personal application and an encouraging word. I do not use a list when I send out emails, I purposefully click each name or type in new names, if I forget to add one and catch it when I am editting. Well, the mind is not as sharp as it once was, and I was editting a message and typed the address in wrong (but it was a good address, just not to the person I intended). A few days after I sent this email out, it was the message that goes around alot about the "unpopular" kid in high school who was being bulleyed and had all his books on a Friday which caught the attention of a classmate who went to help him... the message was a little long but the point at the end is you never know what is going on with someone, and how a simple act of kindness could really make a difference in someones life. Well as usual it had a personal message at the top listing why this one ment something to me and I included my favorite verse, Psalms 139:14, and said when you see someone who is hurting, but you just do not know what to say and don't want to quote cliche's, give them this verse. Well I received an email back from the mistaken address, they were very intrigued if this was just a fluke or if it was sent out on purpose, like a spam kind of random mailing. I assured them I simply mistyped the address and was very sorry. They wrote back they were not upset, they were just wanting to see if it was really just good or if it was really good luck, that message touched them too, and they needed that verse and it really made their day. She told me to add her address to my "do send". God knows what we need, and he knows the way we will be the most receptive. Email can be a great tool as long as we use it properly and with purpose and care. With all you do, do it with Love.
Because I never know how someone is going to receive my writing, I always pray for "protection" of the intent I had when I wrote something and for the reader to be able to understand what they are supposed to get out of the message. I take the opportunity to pray for each person on my email list and that they will see Christ in even the silly messages. I also make a point of reminding them that this email is encouraging and inspiring but it pales to the best message, that is personalized for us and comes with audio, the Scriptures which are from God. I think it is important to show that alot of these emails that we like so much are based on scripture, or they say something good, but God's word has the promise of eternity and the power to change things. We can make a difference if we pray and study the word so that we are ready when God shows us who to contact and how. If we share all the time and He makes the seeds grow, we may never know the impact we had on someone, that is not why we do it, We do it because someone, Christ, did it for us.
Let your light shine, Christ lit it, and He did not tell us to hide it or becareful not to show it too much or to be selective with it. If people do not like the light in their eyes, they can always look away. If enough lights are shining, eventually they will have no choice but look up!!!
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