I’ve always loved a blank journal. Those new blank pages are full of mystery to me! Who knows what I’ll fill them with–prayers? new adventures? sorrow? When Lydia was born, I was given a journal. And instead of using it to chronicle my day-to-day life as a new mom, I used it to write letters to my little girl. Since she was my first, I wrote in it a lot–filling it with her birth story and sweet love letters. As she’s gotten older, it’s been written in less and less. Usually on birthday eves, after a milestone is hit or when we’ve had a particularly special day.

But one day, Lydia was particularly disobedient. In fact, it was probably the worst day in my parenting life. My little girl broke my heart that day. She hurt my feelings, gave me nightmares about the future and made me question my parenting. It was really my first parenting scar. After our big blow-up and she was finally asleep, I sat down and wrote a letter to her. I wrote all the things I couldn’t tell her as a 3 year old. About God and discipline and I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing. It was a letter full of pain and tears.

And you know what? I can’t wait to give it to her. Maybe when she’s an 18 year old questioning if I love her, or a new mom questioning if she can make it or a single girl who needs a special gift. I’m believing those words from the past will be a glimpse into my heart and into her early life. It may heal things that were accidentally hurt. It may just make her laugh at my inadequacies.

Writing to your kids isn’t a spiritual discipline. It’s not one of those things I’d equate with praying for your children or going to church. But to me, it seems like something God would do. After all, he gave us the Bible. He tells us he wrote every one of our days before one of them came to be, that he planned good works for us to do before the beginning of the world. He records every one of our sorrows and even bottles up our tears.

God’s words are written to us to tell us more about ourselves, to help us understand His plan and to bring encouragement and fulfillment. I’m not suggesting a journal or a few letters to your kids is going to do all that! But I think in our bumbling human way, it’s a gift we can give to our kids. A gift that won’t impress them now, but it may when they are adults.

So today, grab a blank journal or a piece of paper. And write a love letter to your kids!

Resources for you:
Mama &  Me Journal by Mama Jenn {I am so doing this when my kids are old enough!}
Love Notes from Parents To Kids {a fun new tradition we’ve started}

photo source: thinklia

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***