ENCOURAGEMENT

Time sure does fly! I can't believe it's the middle of August. Because of family vacations and work committments, I have not had much time to blog this summer.

But I sure have had time to encourage. The more I interact with people the more I realize everyone needs encouragement. Everywhere I go I find someone who needs to hear encouraging words. People are hurting. Life is tough. Fear is rampant.

What is encouragement? Webster defines it as ”to inspire with courage, spirit or hope; to spur on, stimulate; to give help or patronage to, the act of encouraging, giving hope or promise”. To encourage, whether others or ourselves, is to make courageous, not in a passive way, but as an action verb. Encouragement is touching people right where they are, inspiring them to hang in there and persevere in the midst of problems.

Look around. Really listen to your friend or child. You can encourage someone today. Because you never know when a moment and a few encouraging words can change a life forever.