Fight for joy. Look up. Have faith.

Mission: To glorify God by reminding people to fight for joy, look up and have faith by writing love letters and leaving them where people could find them (tucked in a cafe magazine, between books in the library). And to encourage other people to do the same. Vision: To see a generation learning about God through these notes and at the same time sharing God's love further on by writing love letters themselves for others.

[fight4joy]

Today's love letter.

[fight4joy]

If you feel far from God today...

1) Praise Him.

Pull out your favorite worship CD or line up a playlist.  Even if you don’t “feel” anything the first song or two, just keep listening.  Turn it up loud, in the car or in your room.  Sing.  Eat up the lyrics.  I recommend: David Crowder, Phil Wickham, Tree63, and Brooke Fraser.

  2) Encourage someone.

The only thing better than receiving is giving.  Text, email, or message someone a simple encouragement.  “Jesus and I love you.”  Send out Bible verses.  Say specific things about that person.  Warning: You might enter a crazy rush of encouraging people and start madly giggling to yourself.

  3) Pray for someone.

Write out a list.  All the times you said, “I’ll pray for you” — take five minutes to do it today.  It might feel jumpy and awkward at the start: just press through it.  Pray in a widening circle, starting with your family.  Pray for missionaries, your church leaders, the weird kid in school, for the people in news headlines.  Pray for yourself.  Tell God about your day, your dreams, your worries, your hopes.  Thank Him.

  — J.S.

http://jspark3000.tumblr.com/post/46939322357/if-you-feel-far-from-god-today

[fight4joy]

If you feel far from God today...

1) Praise Him.

Pull out your favorite worship CD or line up a playlist.  Even if you don’t “feel” anything the first song or two, just keep listening.  Turn it up loud, in the car or in your room.  Sing.  Eat up the lyrics.  I recommend: David Crowder, Phil Wickham, Tree63, and Brooke Fraser.

  2) Encourage someone.

The only thing better than receiving is giving.  Text, email, or message someone a simple encouragement.  “Jesus and I love you.”  Send out Bible verses.  Say specific things about that person.  Warning: You might enter a crazy rush of encouraging people and start madly giggling to yourself.

  3) Pray for someone.

Write out a list.  All the times you said, “I’ll pray for you” — take five minutes to do it today.  It might feel jumpy and awkward at the start: just press through it.  Pray in a widening circle, starting with your family.  Pray for missionaries, your church leaders, the weird kid in school, for the people in news headlines.  Pray for yourself.  Tell God about your day, your dreams, your worries, your hopes.  Thank Him.

  — J.S.

http://jspark3000.tumblr.com/post/46939322357/if-you-feel-far-from-god-today

[fight4joy]

Good morning!

[fight4joy]

I wrote this down after seeing it in tumblr.

[fight4joy]

How to write a love letter for a complete stranger.

1. Nice pen, nice paper. 

The ones I use are note cards I found at a local bookstore. 

2. Write to yourself.

Okay, writing a love letter for a complete stranger is unconventional and also a personal experience. What I do is I imagine that I'm writing a letter to myself. And then I share my thoughts along with encouraging verses from the Bible. Sometimes I share a struggle and I tell the story of how I made it through. I share of God's amazing love. I share of our identity as children of God - that we aren't losers and insignificant. Share anything, share love - but most of all, share God's love.

3. End it sincerely. End it with a link to this blog so that whoever reads the letter can find us.

We don't want the praise. What we want is people encouraged to share God's love to others through love letters. What we want is a community of God-glorifying lovers - people who love God and glorify Him by sharing His love. It is our desire that this blog will be a space where people can ask questions about God and learn more about Him.

4. Write a short but catchy invitation on the envelope. 

I usually write this on the envelopes or covers of my letters. Okay, it's not "that" catchy but I'm working on it. :P

5. Pray

Pray that your love letter will find itself in the hands of a person who needs it most. Pray that that person will know God and be encouraged by the knowledge that He/She is loved. Pray most of all that God will be glorified. 

6. Leave it in places where it can be found.

During our recent vacation, I brought a stack of letters on my carry-on bag and left it in between pages of magazines I read in coffee shops, under a vase at a museum cafe, under a spare tissue in the toilet, tucked between food items at a grocery and anywhere possible. 

7. Encourage your friends to write.

I brought with me empty note cards for my friends to write in during our vacation. I encouraged them to write a letter to themselves and then leave it at places we visited. And yes, they got so excited that they each wrote 3-4 letters each during the 5 days we were away. And we always ended it with the blog link. 

So yes, that's my process. Be encouraged, friend. Love God. Love others. Write a love letter today. :)

[fight4joy]

Writing Tools

The essentials: "Pen & Paper": Nice penmanship is essential to not distracting from the words and feelings you put so much thought and time into. If your writing isn't attractive, it's preferable to type your letter on a computer where you can choose from any number of font styles (including calligraphy-- so romantic!) and colors. Even if you do have nice handwriting, give thought to the ink and stationery you use to make your letter as beautiful as possible. 

Reference: http://www.loveletters.com/love-letter-guide.html

[fight4joy]

I'm back after 5 days of being away from city. A bit travel-weary and toasted at the same time. Now, I'm currently at our youth church, waiting for my ministry mates to arrive for a meeting. My friends and I have left around 16 cards in the 3 cities we've visited and here's hoping someone has found it already. Last night, we prayed for those love letters - wherever they are - that that the person who'd find one would be blessed and encouraged by those. :))

[flimzy]

[imperfectio]

[brotherstories]

write it out, before it eats you up.

[fight4joy]

At the lobby of our hotel, writing more love letters. :)

[fight4joy]

Hi! I’m still on my 3rd day of vacation in a land far from home so I’ve been using my phone to update this blog. For now, I’ve written a couple of notes and left it at every restaurant and cafe I’ve tried (which number up to 8 now, haha). Also, my travelling companions have been of great help. I gave them cards to write and they’ve been leaving them at different shops, between magazines and under coasters. I’m hoping they’ve encouraged a couple of people for the past three days we’ve been leaving them in three different cities. Anyways, if you found one, I hope you can comment and tell us how to improve (be more stealthy and such) haha.

Here’s hoping you liked our cards! :) And yes, I encourage you to write/leave cards for people to read and please include the link of this blog so that we can all find each other. God bless you! :)

[fight4joy]

Asked my travel companions to write a note and then we left it at a nearby museum. :)

[fight4joy]

First love letter we wrote which we left in a place near our hotel. :)

[fight4joy]

Hi! I just started this blog and if you found this, you most probably saw a love letter I wrote somewhere. And it's my hope that if you did find one, you'll write another and leave it for someone to find. Why? They say that writing a note can help lessen ones sad feelings. Also, it makes our day brigter. Anyway, I'm sorry for the short note. I'm still on vacation and at the same time, I've been leaving notes for people to find. :) God bless you!!