people can change encouragement

The Power of Encouragement

I’m an encourager.

I say that without pomp or pretense and with no need for recognition.

I simply like finding the potential good and reminding folks of it on the hard days. It’s part of my wiring.

I used to think I had to be qualified somehow before I offered up encouraging words. That I had to arrive at some ridiculously unattainable pinnacle before I could reach back to help other women with their own climb. And that insecurity silenced me for years.

I don’t know why, really. All I wanted to do was help others who were hurting, help them remember and believe what God is capable of doing.

There were a lot of hurting folks waiting for someone to do just that. Women married and single. Divorced and widowed. Mothers and daughters. Business owners and entrepreneurs. Homemakers and caregivers. Students and teachers. Women who wear all sorts of hats and carry out all sorts of responsibilities as they try to navigate all. the. roles.

Countless women waiting to be noticed. To be encouraged.

But the doubts lingered. What did I have to offer? How in the world would anything I say make a difference?

Thankfully God long ago tucked deep into my heart a passion for personal and spiritual growth. And slowly that passion couldn’t help but rise up, rebelling against all those fears and doubts until finally that resistance exploded into this big, beautiful, messy Truth that together we are better.

Eventually I learned how encouragement isn’t usually some grand gesture from a wise and mysterious sage. Often it’s a simple as a text or a handwritten note or a beautiful card from someone right there in the open waters with them.

I’ve always found it interesting how Hawaiian tradition finds friends and families sometimes swimming long distances together. That way, if one grows weary and exhausted, the entire group can circle around and keep that person afloat. They actually massage her in order to refresh her before anyone in the group moves on. {I knew there was a reason I have a special place in my heart for Hawaii! Free massages when you’re worn thin?!}

Because swimming beside someone, believing in them along the watery way, cheering them on during the hard days, well, that changes people.

 

 

4 thoughts on “The Power of Encouragement

  1. I love the new e-cards! Since I enjoy relationships so much, this is an extra special way I can reach out to my friends in a sweet and unexpected way to show them how much I appeciate them. Thank you for sharing this really fun resource, Jo Ann! I love how your heart is always so quick to share the things you enjoy most with all of us! <3

    Love, Cherie

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