Missionary Tech Unplugged: Going low tech.

From time to time, even the most digital person needs to unplug from his or her wifi laptop and go old school. In other word's, sometimes a low tech is actually better and easier way to accomplish a task than the miriad of gadjets and programs we compiled on our hard drive. So from time to time, I plan to blog on on of these "unplugged" methods that migh be of benifet to ther missionaries and ministers.
Case in point, is the lost art of writing a proper thank you note. (and by writing, I mean actually using a pen or pencil and a piece of paper.) I am guilty myself of typing my fair share of thank you letters (mainly due to my horrible hand writing and the fact that I Brazil) but I plan to to find a way to be able to write and mail my thank you letters rather than e-mail or type them.
So I hope you all enjoy the artcile I found on writing great thank you notes.

How To How to Write a Thank-You Note
by Leslie Harpold

Let's be honest folks, letter writing is a lost art. Most of do not even spell check our e-mails before we send them, let alone spend much thought into how we say what we say. We've developed abbreviations for about everything. A long e-mail for most of us is one that consists of at least one complete sentence. And I don’t mean an e-mail that has several thoughts joined together by my favorite punctuation…the all famous triple period…! (It’s as if inserting the triple period allows us to break all rules of punctuation.)

If you are in the ministry, especially if you raise your own support, then you know how often we find our selves needing to write thank you notes. We tend to put them of until we have several stacked up. We all know how hard it can be it can be to write a proper thank you note, let alone get them sent out in timely fashion. I myself and very guilty of beginning the majority of my thank you notes with, “I am sorry this is so late but__”

We all wish that thank you notes were easier to write. After all, most of us do not lack for words to speak, it’s the getting them onto paper part that we struggle with. I am not looking for a one size fits all template or a cut and paste approach to writing a thank you note, rather most I seek to find the best words that accurately and honestly express my genuine gratitude for someone’s generosity.

That is why I found Leslie Harpold’s article, on TheMorningNews.com website, so beneficial. She divides a thank you note up into 6 separate parts. She clearly states what should to be included and what should not in each of those section. If you are like me, just getting started can be a struggle and often once we get started, we struggle with saying more than just, “hey, thanks for the cool gloves.” If you follow the six points on Harpold’s article, more than likely you will never lack for not only enough things to say, but the “what” will be both thoughtful and honest.

Good Luck and don't forget to send me a thank you note!

Jason