I have an nice little Monday morning tradition. Every Monday morning I sit at my desk and handwrite two or three Thank You cards to different volunteers in our different children’s ministry areas. One letter is usually just chosen off a list of volunteers that worked that particular week, and the other letter is sent to someone that I noticed doing something GREAT during that particular weekend. My motivation is two-fold; first I want those on my ministry team to know that they are doing a great job and second I want them to know that I am extremely thankful for what they do for all the families at our church. I’ve been doing this for 3+ years now, and it’s not the be all to end all, but it’s proven remarkably effective at getting people to join with you in ministry.

I say all that to say that this month is Pastor Appreciation Month. Did you know that? Everywhere I’ve ever worked, I’ve been noticed a few times for Pastor Appreciation events; but the church here in Lubbock has blown me away. I’ve received almost 8 handwritten Thank You letters in the past 2 weeks, and some of them make me want to cry. While I’m a regular Thank You note writer, I rarely receive such things. (Working in Children’s Ministry makes it easy to live a humble existence.) Knowing how some parents have such a positive view of what my ministry team and I are doing is so encouraging! It gets me excited about the future, and confirms for me that God is using us to reach the families in our church and neighborhood.

But I do have one problem. All these wonderful letters has made me wonder if I should write a Thank You note for their nice Thank You note?