Gifts of Encouragement

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I am doing today what I do most days—picking things up and putting them down in different places . . .

Sometimes I think my entire life feels like that of Sisyphus (the man from a Greek myth who was condemned for eternity to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it fall back down just as he gets to the top, forcing him to start all over again) as my daily chores seem to be nothing more than doing the exact same things over and over and over and . . .

But today in moving things from place to place, I discovered an e-mail I'd printed out two years ago—one of validation and encouragement. With new eyes I began looking around, and I also found on my desk a handmade card about friendship and a wooden sign a girlfriend allowed me to "steal" from her house while I was deep into studying (it says "Be Nice or Go Away").

My life is filled with small gifts of encouragement—from e-mails, to e-mailed blogs sent to lift my spirits, to comments on my blogs that do the same. I've been encouraged just this morning through a phone call, by an upcoming planned date, and by a personally recorded CD of unbelievably beautiful piano music I've been listening to. I found encouragement in Scripture today from Psalms 73:22-23, which says "I was so foolish and ignorant . . . Nevertheless I still belong to you and you are still holding me by my right hand . . ."

Isn't it incredible how something so easy to give as a word of encouragement can be so powerful?

The discouraging surrounds us, overwhelms us, and shouts loudly in our lives, but today, in all the "boulder rolling up a hill" that you are doing, may you find a precious gift of encouragement—a card, a song, a quote, a conversation, a memory, or whatever boost you need—and may it make your heart, even if just for a moment, smile!


"My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that the grace of God is with you no matter what happens!" I Peter 5:12

Comments

the johnson crew said…
when you think of it that way... moving stuff from one place to another all day... sounds pretty discouraging... and funny. :)

But yes, my days are filled with encouragement from God our Father as well as my husband, children, and friends. So Blessed and thankful.
September 13, 2010 at 7:40 PM
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