loving feedback

Last month, we sent 650 Valentine’s cards in one of our most precious #LOVED initiatives yet. Because after months – and years – of praying for our MPs, most especially with all the pressure they are currently facing, we wanted to affirm and encourage them all directly with words of love. (You can read more about what we did here.) We made it clear they didn’t need to respond – but of course some of them kindly did…

The hand-written note pictured above was especially thoughtful, given we hadn’t supplied our postal address, and extra effort had clearly been taken to research it as well as to write. But so were the many email responses we receive from MPs themselves, their parlimentary assistants, and even – in one case – from a very busy cabinet member.

It was of course really encouraging to hear back from people – to know all the cards and letters had been received. And more importantly still, to know they had clearly been received well and in the way we had hoped they would be.

Whilst it was wonderful to hear so many people talk of how much the messages had encouraged them, and to hear fun stories like the one where an assistant had whatsapped photos into the debating chamber so her MP would see them on the day. It was also heart-breaking to hear how rarely encouragement and affirmation are received by people bearing such responsibility generally – and especially in the current context of Brexit and all its surrounding implications.

It was even more disturbing to receive how much abuse is received. And to have a number of parlimentary assistants in particular talk about how they try and shield the MPs they work for from the worst of it, but have to read it all themselves – and how distessing they find this.

All this underlined the humanity of the people behind the walls of the iconic Houses of Parliament. As did the warmth and personable tone of many of the responses, and even the gentle joking from one MP about it ensuring he did actually receive a Valentine’s.

So what are we left with after all this? Certainly a deep sense of how special, wothwhile and important it was to respond to that nudge from God and do what we did. And even more so a great amount of thankfulness that we didn’t miss that chance, or dismiss it for whatever reason.

But most of all, a greater love for our MPs and their teams than we had even when we wrote to them. And a greater determination to grow still more in prayers, words and actions of love for them – whatever comes.

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