Using Photos to Say Thank You or Give Encouragement

One of the things I struggle with is getting thank you's written on time.  I feel terrible about this!  Relatives send cards with money for b-days, Valentine's treats, Easter eggs, Halloween stickers - and I cannot seem to get thank you's out on time!  Or, someone is hurting and needing encouragement - in the hospital or struggling, and I don't get a card written.  Weeks pass, and then it's too late.  So, this past year, I had an idea - what if I just snapped a picture of the boys and thanked or encouraged them that way?  Then, I email it with a short message, or print a 4 x 6 photo and jot a message on the back.  The response has been great!  They love the pics of the boys, and often hang them on their fridges!  Here are a few we have done this year...

A thank you for a b-day card and money for each of them - they were both born in March!

A thank you for Easter candy, crayon water shooters, and eggs sent for an Easter egg hunt!

A thank you for my Dad giving each of the boys a refurbished CD of his Christian Quartet record he and his "Reformers" quartet made back in the day!

Another part of the thank you - as the boys sang one of Dad's quartet's songs just like their Papa!

Encouragement for my Dad after his whipple surgery to remove his cancerous tumor - it says....
LOVE YA PAPA...

...THIS MUCH!!!
He had these pictures hung on his wall at the hospital for the month+ he was there.
He showed every nurse and doctor them!

My parents have taken our sons to a lot of Journey Bound Quartet concerts.   For my parents' 50th wedding anniversary  celebration at their church, I sent this picture to Journey Bound along with some money to ask them to record a short message and possibly a song for their anniversary.  It shows all of the Journey Bound cd's my parents or my children have gotten through the years - they are their biggest fans!  Journey Bound recorded a DVD of them singing "Happy Anniversary", gave a special message as they remember all 7 boys coming to many concerts, and sang "In His Shoes," one of their favorite songs about how our children (grandchildren too) walk in our shoes, so we should walk in HIS (the Lord's) shoes.  They even wrote an extra special verse about my parents and the boys.  We played it at their anniversary celebration as a surprise - what a neat part of that special day it was!

A thank you for Halloween card and stickers and money!

Happy Valentine's Day picture I printed that says "We Love You!"  to all the family the boys love so much!  I just laid a dollar store red table line on the floor with the heart in the middle and had the boys lay in a heart position.  It was on all of their fridges when I visited their homes months later!

Just thought I'd share this idea in case any of you other busy moms have the same struggles I do with getting cards out on time!

In Christ,
Julie