In August 2008 I shared how a blogpost I’d written for another blog I owned had spoken to a lady who really needed to read that message. I’d responded to an inner prompting I’d had to write that post.
In that same year I’d been approached about a new business that was reaching Australia from the US. I’d been approached many times by many people for all sorts of business opportunities and I was actually quite sick of people seeing me as a prospecting machine to help build their businesses. I really should have felt flattered I guess – they see me as having great potential. However my feelings coloured my view of any business and I neglected to view it properly.
Move forward two years and I’ve since decided to set up an account with that business ‘Send Out Cards‘ as I recognise it is a great marriage with a service I already provide – database and customer relationship management. And one of the things I love about this program is that it was built on that ‘inner prompting’. The founder of the company missed an opportunity to speak to his brother before his brother’s untimely death and he decided he wanted to not only take notice of those inner promptings but teach others to do so as well. There have been times when I’ve missed, or rather ignored, those inner promptings too and it’s also led to similar outcomes. Once was a best friend when I was only 21 years old and another more recently, one of my daughters. Of course there have been other times too when I’ve simply missed opportunities and the moment passes and the meaning would no longer be there.
How often does someone you know cross your mind but you do nothing about it because you’re busy at the time? If you’re like me and at the computer a lot it doesn’t always cross your mind to go down to the shops, pick out a card, write in it and then head off to the post office. But that is all it takes to let someone know you’re thinking of them. And with a card it’s something they can keep for a long time. A phone call can be replayed in your head but a card you can pick up and read over and over again a long time after it was received.
I’m beginning to realise that the ministry through business I’ve been running can be added to through the sending of cards to people who cross my mind. There are times when it’s appropriate to pick up the phone and speak with them but other times when a card is far more suitable.
When I first began some months ago I struggled to think of a reason or a person on a daily basis. But today I write names down as people cross my mind and it’s not unusual to send 3 or 4 cards a day. And the cost of those cards isn’t great – it’s cheaper than going down to the shops and purchasing individual cards as well as the time involved.
If you feel you have a ministry through your workplace of encouraging people then why not consider that Send Out Cards could be an ideal way to act on those inner promptings. Prayer should always be taking place anyway but if you want to make that action more visible to the person you’re thinking of, then a card will definitely suit. There are over 12,000 templates or you can design your own, so there will always be something to suit the occasion.
Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.