The Value of Saying “Thank You”

In 2013, I produced a Reach For More event in Jordan, Minnesota, with a group of dedicated pastors and lay people. The event was designed to bring young people and unchurched adults to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Heavy snowstorms hit the area, in late April, no less. All of the school assemblies we had scheduled were snowed out. The forecast was calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday, the day of the big event at the Jordan High School.

I emailed our twenty intercessors that support us around the nation, “You have to bear down and pray this snow away, or we are dead in the water.”

They did . . . pray the snow away, that is. On Saturday, the day of the event, the skies were clear and sunny all day long. Then, it snowed again the next day.

The storms still had a negative effect on the attendance. We were hoping for 1000 people, but instead we got about 300. However, 30 young people gave their lives to Christ, and that is huge, no matter how you slice it.

Jason Houle, who runs a ministry to Native Americans called Native Strong, attended the event. We connected and over time became good friends. He later helped me with a fundraising banquet for the ministry, so afterward I sent him a thank you note.

Jason and I were meeting at McDonalds every week to encourage each other and one day I noticed a thank you note sticking out of his day planner. It was the one I had sent him. Teasingly, I remarked, “I see someone sent you a thank you note,” as if I didn’t know it was from me.

“Yes,” he said. “I often pull it out and read it again. Ministry is a lonely occupation. You work really hard and pour out your life for people, but almost never does anyone thank you. So I read this often because it encourages me.”

Well, to be honest, I was quite shocked. A simple thank you note that took me less than a minute to write had that kind of effect on Jason?

Apparently, Americans are so busy that they forget to say “thank you.” That’s a tragedy that strikes at the quality of our life in America.

In my ministry, I had some experiences similar to Jason’s. Every month, I would send out a newsletter. Apart from those who were supporting me financially, there was no feedback. I didn’t know if they liked what I was writing or if they cared. Honestly, I thought most of the letters must be going into the circular file. There was mostly dead silence. I would reach a boiling point, and explode with complaints to God, sometimes yelling in my basement office.

“I’m going to quit this letter, Lord. There is no response, and I don’t know if many are reading it. I’m sick and tired of this!”

He wouldn’t ever answer me in those moments. It was just dead silence. He would respond to me within a few days, however, in a way I never expected. I would be maneuvering to a sunday school class or to the worship service at church and bump into someone, who would light up when they saw me.

“Oh, I love your letters,” they would say. “They are so encouraging!”

So I would continue writing newsletters until again I would explode before God with frustration, and the same scenario would play again. I would run into someone who would gush with compliments about my letters.

Presently, we get a lot of great feedback from a number of people about our letters, and other evidence indicates they are widely read. Apparently, our letters feed people spiritually, which is humbling to us.

Lorraine has become known for giving gifts, even on non-celebration days. I have been privileged to witness the incredible lift they give people who receive them.

Just recently, I was on the phone with my friend, Steve, and he said, “By the way, thank Lorraine for the Easter card. I’ve never received an Easter card before.”

For years, I have been in the habit of sending hand written thank you notes to people who graciously send us contributions for our work. I can’t always do it, but for the most part, I do. Some have asked why I do that. “Don’t you have more important things to do with your time?”

What is more important than thanking people who support the Lord’s work?

How long does it take to write a thank you note and drop it in the mail?

Not only am I thanking the individual, but my card is a symbol of thanks to God for using

those individuals to bless our ministry.

God sees that my gratitude towards the individual is also gratitude towards Him.

God is getting the glory.

While I was in college, I began supporting a couple who ministered to the Goths and Punk Rockers in Amsterdam. I knew the Father of the husband personally and was very impressed with their ministry. I knew how tight their money supply was, but sometimes I would receive a plain white post card, written by the wife, crammed with information of what they were doing and a heartfelt thanks for my contribution. I was more than a little impressed that she would take the time to write to me personally.

For about 25 years before God called me into ministry, I worked in advertising and multi-media. At one agency I worked for, we had a very good salesman. He could sell ice to the Eskimos, as the saying goes. On one occasion, I went to meet him in his office when he had just returned from a sales call. He was sitting at his desk, writing a thank you note.

“When I get back to my office from a sales call, the first thing I do is write a thank you note to them. It’s one of the best things you can do,” he said.

There you have it . . . advice from a top salesman, as to how much weight these seemingly simple acts bear with the recipient.

On one occasion, when I was visiting a small church that has supported us for many years, I was quite surprised to see the thank you note I had sent to them pinned on their bulletin board. In addition, I have learned that these personal notes are often read from the pulpit. This is evidence as to how much a simple thank you note means to people. The note is not just a thank you. I always tell them about what we are doing at the moment, and sometimes include a prayer request. That way, they feel they are genuinely partnering with us, which they are.

So, someone is saying right now, “Why don’t you send an email?” Emails are supposed to be the answer to everything, but sometimes the traditional way is far better. Often good marketing is doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing, because then you stick out from the crowd.

Emails have their place, but I prefer real thank you notes . . . for several reasons. You can’t hold an email in your hand, feel the quality of the paper, look at the real handwriting, hand it to a friend to read, or fasten it to your refrigerator or bulletin board. A nice thank you note has a higher perceived value. The hand addressed, small envelope of a thank you note sticks out in the pile of mail most people get every day. A thank you note will never go unopened. On the other hand, if the recipient receives lots of emails, yours can very easily be lost or not read at all. Some people get 150 emails a day.

We have to remember that many of the older generation are not excited about all of our great electronic advances . . . not at all. Many older people still don’t like computers and never get on them. A pastor told me just the other day that when he wants to get the news out to his congregation of a special event, he has to make a lot of phone calls, because some of his parishioners don’t have email.

As the ministry grows, there will come a time when I will no longer be able to write thank you notes, but as long as I can, I will. One of the keys to effective ministry, and effective relations with your circle of friends and acquaintances, for that matter, is to treat everyone as if they are important . . . because they are. This is also God’s prospective.

In the coming days, please revisit the value of saying “Thank You.” It is a simple way to greatly enrich the lives of those around you.

Photo designed and taken by Lorraine