As many of you know my brother, David, is at boot camp to become a Marine. He will be gone for 13 weeks and during this time period we will only be able to communicate via snail mail. Yesterday at a family orientation his recruiting officer let us know just how important letter writing to your recruit is. They are going through some very difficult physical challenges but what is hardest are the mental challenges. They are essentially cut off. The recruiting officer continued to emphasize the importance of writing encouraging letters DAILY!
David will only have about an hour of free time every night and only some of that time will be for letter reading and writing. I know it would mean A LOT to him to have lots of encouraging letters from all of the different people in his life & even some letters from those who just want to thank him for what he's doing.
If you do decide to write please know that it will mean SO, SO MUCH to him. Please also know that he may not have the time to write you back and if he does it may take a while to receive a response. Even if you do not get a reply letter please continue to write to encourage him.
I know lots of people are already planning on writing him & I just wanted to share some general "Do's" & "Dont's" so as to not garner him any "special attention" from his drill sergeants. Also, we won't have his address until next week but you can go ahead & start writing letters TODAY!!! I will not post his address anywhere publicly but PLEASE feel free to ask me or any of our family for the address!!!
DO:
* write him often! Daily if you want/can!
*use plain white paper & plain white envelopes!
*use encouraging messages to let him know he can do it!
*share local/national/global news as he won't know what is going on!
*share daily happenings in your life / funny stories / Bible verses!
*be POSITIVE / ENCOURAGING!
*be POSITIVE / ENCOURAGING!
DO NOT:
*write more than one page letters at a time!
*use colored / decorative stationary or envelopes!
*write / draw / sticker the envelope!
*send packages of any kind!
*put anything except a letter in the envelope!
*write anything negative or talk about how hard it is without him!
*write anything negative or talk about how hard it is without him!
*address the envelope in any way other than "Rct. LastName, FirstName" (This is important because he is NOT a Marine yet & the title MUST BE EARNED!!!)
My sister, Anna, asked David to let us know if there were any recruits that didn't get mail or got very little mail. If you would be interested in writing encouraging letters to these troops-to-be please let us know that as well.
David's #1 need at this time is PRAYER!!!
Please pray for:
1. strength physically, mentally & spiritually
2. NO injuries or sickness or any delay in his graduation
Thank you all so very much for supporting David & our family during this time!
OORAH!
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Awesome, Laura! Please let me know his address just as soon as you get it!
ReplyDeleteThe Troy Kellys prayed for David at dinner tonight and discussed this post and sending him encouragement. Thanks for sharing this with everyone. We are very proud of him and will keep the whole Reeves family in our prayers!
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