I was talking with my sweet daughter last night regarding a project that she'd had the privilege of being involved with in her church. As she was excitedly telling me all the details and how "God showed up" in so many ways, I was reminded of how valuable encouragement is in our lives.
She shared with me how one of the "older" men took the Youth team (who were in charge of the project) out to dinner after the project was complete. At that time, he shared with them everything he thought they did RIGHT! Can you imagine what a source of encouragement that was to those young people? I can tell you, my daughter was glowing through the phone! I could hear the joy in her voice, sense the joy in her smile, feel the joy in her spoken words.
We need to realize the value of an "encouraging word". Instead of always finding the things young folks do WRONG, why not focus on all they are doing RIGHT? The more they hear praise for the good things, the harder they will want to work to make sure they are making more right choices. And THEN, don't you just imagine that both the young ones and the older ones will be filled with a sense of JOY!?
That's why I call it the
JOY OF ENCOURAGEMENT!
I had a similar conversation about encouragement with one of my student teachers this week (concerning a student she was having "issues" with). I explained that maybe she needed to take a step back and look at herself and think if there was anything she could do to approach this student more positively. She took my advice and the next day sent me the sweetest email that brought tears to my eyes. Said she had taken my advice and approached this student with a different state of mind, ignoring some things and picking her battles. And it worked!!! Instead of having consequences several times a day, the student had only one! She thanked me for my advice and was so excited about not only the child's success but her feelings toward him. I am thankful I had good advice to give her....all from my own mistakes and experiences:) Joy to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteYOU have the GIFT of ENCOURAGEMENT, Cheri!!! I ALWAYS feel JOYfully blessed when I'm around you. God truly gave you this ability to encourage others....and I'm so thankful that He put you in my life! I LOVE YOU!
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