Saying and Writing Nice Words Can Mean the World to Those Around Us

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

When it comes to love languages, I’m a words of affirmation girl all the way. Don’t get me wrong…gifts and acts of service are a close tie for second and I will never say no to either of them. 

But my core self craves affirmation. This is a fact. 

Here’s another fact: I avoid conflict whenever possible. I’m a solid Enneagram 9, and I just want everyone to get along. PLEASE. :) 

So this past weekend, when someone decided to mess with my email and send out some spam about weed eaters, I was decidedly ill-equipped to handle the barrage of hate mail that flooded my inbox. 

This isn’t a post about protecting your email. Bottom line, make sure your password is as strong as it can be. Change it if it’s been a while. And if two factor authentication is an option, use it. Beyond that, there’s really not much you can do. 

Moving on.

When the first hateful email hit, I thought it was a fluke. Then they kept coming. These folks were fed up with the spam in their inbox and to convey that, they chose to respond in vile, hateful, crude, and in a couple of cases, truly disturbing ways. 

I mean, I get it. I don’t like spam either. And I’m sure they have no idea that when they replied to the email, that their response was going to a person who was just as much a victim of the situation as they were. But…wow. Some of the things they suggested I do indicated that there are some very broken people out there in the world. 

It also drove home how much unkind words—even when I know I did nothing wrong and don’t deserve them and they don’t actually apply to me—can hurt. 

But guess what else happened? 

I received a lovely email from a young reader. The email was from her, but written from what I’m guessing is her mom’s account. She told me how much she loved my books, especially my last one and how she’d convinced her parents to drive 90 minutes to go to a bookstore that carried it. 

Y’all. 🥰

I responded. Told her thank you. Offered to send her some stickers if she didn’t mind sending me her mailing address. 

Her response was that my email had made her day. 

I literally cannot tell you how desperately I needed her words of encouragement this weekend. Because while my rational brain knows those hateful emails weren’t really for me at all, I read them and they were like a poison worm in my spirit. 

But that one email from a kind soul helped keep the evil at bay. 

So today, tonight, this weekend, let me encourage you to do something. 

Take a minute and email your favorite author. Just send them a few lines. Tell them you appreciate them and that you’re praying for them. If you particularly loved a storyline or you’re excited for an upcoming release, tell them. 

As writers, you know this is true. You know that no matter what their social media indicates or what they shared in their last newsletter, their real life is complicated and, at times, messy. 

Your words might be the very words they need to keep writing the words that God has given them. 

And that matters.

Because there are some very sad people out there. They need Jesus. They need hope. They need stories that bring joy and peace and encouragement. 

So write the email. Send the note. Comment on the blog post. Respond to the newsletter. React to their social media. 

Say nice things. 

It matters. Maybe more than you know.

TWEETABLE

Saying and Writing Nice Words Can Mean the World to Those Around Us, insight from @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lynn H. Blackburn loves writing romantic suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters and loves putting them into all kinds of terrifying situations while she's sitting at home safe and sound in her pajamas! 

Unknown Threat, the first book in her Defend and Protect series, was a 2021 Christy Award finalist and her previous titles have won the Carol Award, the Selah Award, and the Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s Choice Award. Malicious Intent, the second book in the series, released March 2022.

She is a frequent conference speaker and has taught writers all over the country. Lynn lives in South Carolina with her true love and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after by signing up for her newsletter at LYNNHBLACKBURN.COMand @LynnHBlackburn on BOOKBUB, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, and INSTAGRAM.