I’m a writer. I love words and make it my business to string a lot of them together. Most of the time I don’t know who reads my devotionals and parenting articles. Maybe the words are just rattling around in cyberspace or sitting on dusty shelves in doctor’s offices. I send the words on to publishers and they get printed and I can see them in print or online, but I usually don’t get the benefit of knowing if they help anyone.

Last week I received a message from a parent who read one of my articles in Frederick’s Child, a parent magazine available in Frederick, Maryland. It was about the benefits of children playing with simple toys that make room for a child’s imagination, but this mom read the tagline and saw that I was a retired teacher who had written a book about helping kids learn to read.

She needed help. She has a second grader with communication and language delays, making it hard for him to read fluently. She asked me for advice and made it clear that she’s doing everything she can to support her little guy. It sounds like he’s in a great classroom with a wonderful, caring teacher. But she wondered if I knew how to find a tutor. Sadly, living clear across the country I couldn’t do more than explain what a good tutor should be and know. I wrote to her and gave her what I could.

What struck me was the love this mom has for her child. She’s willing to seek help wherever she may find it and I was glad to offer my thoughts. Without knowing the child and seeing test results I can’t really do more than make general suggestions and offer to send her a free book, which I did. But I was able to share with her some of my war stories of raising a son with a special need and the agony of not being sure I was doing the right things.

Sometimes just a word of encouragement from one parent to another is enough to brighten a day. I’ll probably never meet this young mom, but I love her from afar. I know what she’s going through. And my prayer is she’ll experience the joy of seeing her adult son living a full and productive life just as I have.

In addition, I was encouraged to know that my words actually sparked the communication. So often our efforts seem to go unnoticed. It doesn’t take much to reach out and it doesn’t take much to respond. A little bridge was built and it made my heart glad.