For 10 years of my adult life I had the incredible joy of mentoring many teens through their Jr. High and High School years. There were times of joy and sadness, challenge and depth, crazy fun and shared experiences. What a privilege.
All of these amazing “kids” have grown and moved on into productive lives of education, occupations, ministry, marriage, even parenting ( that makes me feel old). I am abundantly proud of each and every one of them; always thrilled to hear updates on their lives.
A couple months ago I received an unexpected note from Fabiola~ a precious young woman who was involved in my life during those mentoring years. I will share a portion of it with you:
“Hi Dianna!
Ok this is super random, but I was just thinking about you guys the other day. And I was remembering all the times that we used to hang out at your house, and you ALWAYS made the best food! I was just thinking about how cool it was that you were so involved in our lives, and would invite David’s friends over to get to know them. Made me feel so at home as I was hanging out with these new Christians.
Anyway, sorry to be so cheesy. But honestly, hanging out at your house and doing fun things there kept me out of trouble in high school and in good company. Sometimes when I hear about what the kids in high school are doing now – it breaks my heart. I know I’m speaking for our whole class. Just so cool, honestly. Thank you for pouring into our lives. ”
Wow~ I remember the impact that this note had on my heart. I was blessed to hear that there was continued fruit from time well spent with these great kids!
The reason I chose to share these thoughts is because all of us have people who are, or have been in our lives who may not know how much they impacted us! Perhaps we are too uncomfortable to share it, we assume that they may know, or it seems like their impact was such a long time ago……there are many reasons.
How about taking some time to list those people who have had meaningful impact on your life and then choose to creatively let them know in 2013! What a fabulous way to begin a brand new year: gratefulness and appreciation.
Fabiola’s note was a sweet reminder of how much words of affirmation matter~~for all of us!
Happy “intentional” New Year to You! 🙂
Dianna Salciccioli 
so right on Dianna! This Christmas I sent several cards and a picture of our grown sons and their families to people who had impacted us back in the 80s and 90s that we lost touch with. Perhaps the best one was the pastor who baptized our entire family! Those old friends who live nearby I’m taking to lunch in January to tell them in person the great memories we have and how much they meant to me and our family.
That’s beautiful Carol!! truly.