Writing Cards of Encouragement With Powerful Emotion

You don't need to be a poet to write poetry. Much poetry does not even rhyme. Some of my best poems did not rhyme. A card is much space so you only want a stanza of four lines or two stanzas of four lines. I met a lady who was a lovely Catholic woman four weeks ago and she told me she was shopping for her brother for a present. I was able to give her an extra two dollars for her gift and I was able to write the card for her brother. It was a picture of a butterfly. The card went

There is nothing like a butterfly To share its color and beauty for a season But they say that they only live a month Not much time to watch them and love them

But you my brother Spread your color and your warmth And instead of merely a month I have you for the rest of your life

God bless you

All it takes is a little bit of thought and a bit of inspiration. There is nothing like a fresh idea out of your mind. Go to a card shop and get a picture that you like for the person and then sit down and write the words. A picture of whale breaching the water could read to your father like this.

Oh how the water crashes When a whale breaches in laughter How the grace of the whale just exudes strength And power over the elements

So too you have been my rod and my staff That gentle mix between correction and motivation Oh yeah I have breached and put on a show for you dad I hope in many more breaches I will make you proud.

It does not have to be the work of a rocket scientist. We all judge ourselves by what our English teachers judged us in the third grade. Well let me tell you I can't spell, my grammar is shocking and to post to this site I need a proofreader and we still don't get all the errors out. English was my favourite subject and I failed it and so who am I to write this article?

Here's a card for your father, you, pick a picture of a forest with trees.

You know they say some of these trees grow for hundreds of years And boy they get big and strong They must be so hard to cut down with an axe And the sap must smell so good with newly cut wood.

It reminds me of you with all the years of wisdom And how your wisdom flows through you In all my years I have come to acknowledge your strength and beauty And the inner strength you have is like a sweet fragrance.

You could go on and on.

In the first stanza paint a picture in words of what you see in the card In the second stanza get the words of the first stanza and compare them to attributes of the person you are writing to.

It is simple.

Here is one for your lover.

It's not the sunlight in the morning that rises that brings me joy It's not the sip of my first coffee just the way I like it. It's not the fresh blast of a hot shower massaging my sleepy body It's the thought of you, my first thought every morning that makes me smile

I look at you across the table from me It's not your nakedness under those fancy clothes that I think about It's the way that smile plays around the corner of your mouth. When you know I am wrong and you know you are right.

Here is one for your brother in his time of struggle.

I laughed and fought with you when I was a child That's what brothers do with each other Now I look on as your come through mountains that could overwhelm you And my whole life is full of admiration for you

You know I have been a man of few words Yet I am quick with a dirty joke or to make you smile I just want to tell you that even though I can't help you in your pain I am praying for you brother and praying you'll be right again.

It's easy, all you need to do is write from the heart. If you get a picture card like I suggested try and make the first stanza about the picture and the second about the person. There are hundreds of "bought" cards out there, but not many handwritten lyrics on cards.

Why you can even write to me and I'll write you one, but you won't need to do that. All you've got to do is speak the truth from your heart. Every dad could do with one like this.

You know dad when I grew up I took you for granted I thought seeing as you had me you owed me a living And now since I have been working for a living, Paying rent, tax and bills, there seems so little left over for treats And now I know why you were short on money And now I know why you were so kind to go without the best So I could wear the latest trends And why you went without So I could go looking good I want you to know my father I appreciate you And I am so very happy for your example Here is a thousand kisses I hope this card makes you glad.

You just can't miss if you are speaking from the heart. All you need do is find a nice picture and get out a sheet of paper and practice. Line after line. One line at a time and scribble out pieces and bits here and there until you are happy. I know if my father got that card above that it would bring a tear to his eye. In fact I am going to go down and buy a card today and write it out for him.

People in this world carry so many burdens. There is so much hurt and unforgiveness. One card can say a multitude of things and can repair years of pain. Every soldier of war must have missed his wife's embrace, but it was the letters that kept the flame alive. Why don't you ignite a heart with a card this week?

There are heaps of people you can write to you know. You could write this to a friend and take them out for coffee.

I have seen a lion with her baby cubs I have seen a dolphin with its young I have seen the sun come up with my lover And I have seen the sun set in the hands of my husband. I have seen my mother's joy at my good news I have seen my boss' excitement when I accepted a promotion But one thing I know shines way above all of this It's seeing you read this card and knowing that I love you And no one in my life could take the place of you My devoted and precious friend Enjoy the coffee, it's my shout today!

I could write a hundred for you but I have only written a few in this article. These are just examples, templates as it were, things for you to look at and contemplate. Perhaps you can use them as ideas and write your own cards around my ideas. The important thing is that you write some cards.

Flowers last only a few weeks but a good handwritten card can last years and years. If you become good at it, soon people will be wanting your cards more than money being spent on them. Now wouldn't that be encouraging?

So get to it.

Write something positive to someone you love today!

I dare you!

If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011