Geez... Thanks and No Thanks!

Recently, I read a very amusing email to someone entitled "Thank you!". At first, the writer thanked the person for his great help with THANK YOU in caps some more and later goes on to mention that there are still some outstanding job duties that need to be completed during the remaining time that he has with us. The note then ended with a "PS" requesting for his notification of the off days that he will be clearing.

Erh... Is that a THANK YOU note? My consolation is at least there is A THANK YOU NOTE, which is better than none, right? Call me optimistic! Haha

Suddenly, it just dawns on me when is the last time, I sincerely penned a handwritten thank you card to someone. Although, I do that every day by email, thanking my speakers for the forms and papers that I received from them. And often at the end of each event, we received thank you notes from grateful organisers and that lifts our spirits. Not that I'm a sucker for compliments, but a sincere and well-thought-out note, makes me feel being valued and appreciated. Thank you notes are very personal and they take time and thought to write, and thus makes me feel special.

I have 2 storage boxes; one containing blank cards for sending out and another for greeting cards received. And of course, this is before email became popular. Over these few years, the cards received are dwindling, except for the ones sent by my insurance agents.

I remembered during my courting years, I actually forced Gavin to buy me cards instead of pressies for celebrative occasions. Anyway, that was just an excuse for delaying his purchase of gifts, which I rather choose my own. At first, there was " To Val" .....blah blah blah (words from the card) and then signed of with "Love, Gavin". I gave him a hard time and forced him to write at least a 3-liner blessings/greetings on the spot. Boy, that was like squeezing brain juice out from a man of few words. And after marriage, it's "Huh? No need lah? Already 'lao fu lao qi'. "Occasionally, I would bring out those few cards that he gave me and read them aloud. It gave both us goosebumps! Yikes!

I guessed if I really like receiving cards then I should start first by sending them.

• It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35)
• If we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly, and if we sow bountifully we will reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6).
• We must sow as we have purposed in our hearts, not grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).

Lastly, I must try to remind myself that I need to put a big full stop and purely thank my eldest son, Bryan for helping me put the dishes away in the sink after dinner. Often I ended with BY THE WAY, can you also please help me throw the rubbish in the chute outside, which is like 20 meters away from our door :P Suddenly, it's like my thanks become a command! And Bryan would give me that face and phrase "Why me, again?"