The Lost Art of Letter Writing

We all have those Facebook friends who are little more than acquaintances we see every once in awhile.  About three years ago, one of mine wrote a status update asking if anyone wanted to be pen pals.  I knew she was looking for an out-of-state pen pal, but even though we live in the same zip code, I commented "I'll be your pen pal!"  It sounded fun, and she took me up on it.  What started as something silly turned out to be one of the greatest blessings in my life!

We began to write letters.  We went all out--wax seals, stationary, and all.  We wrote about our favorite things, our past, our families.  It turned out we had so much more in common than we ever imagined.  We discovered the kinds of things you rarely discover with even your best friends and we became best friends not only through letter, but in real life.  Last year, something happened that devastated me.  It was something I could talk to very few people about.  But I could talk to her.  In real life, she prayed with me.  By mail, she encouraged me.  I trusted her with my deepest secrets, we can tell each other anything, and I don't think we could ever have been so close if we had not become pen pals.

Letter to my pen pal

Since then, I've begun writing letters to a couple other friends--one who lives a couple states away and one who lives here.  In every circumstance, it's drawn us closer together.  It's exciting to get a text saying "Celena, I mailed you a letter today!" and to eagerly wait for it. It's wonderful to sit down and thoughtfully write a letter, and to receive the same in return. 

So if you write a status update requesting a pen pal, or if you decide to just start writing letters to one of your good friends who happens to live in the same town, your life will be richer for it.  Promise!