Hey y'all! It's been a hot minute, huh? Yeah, about six months to be exact. I have written about four blog posts since then & deleted them because I have myself convinced that no one would give a crap to read about what I was writing, or that it would be misconstrued, or that it was just too darn personal to shout out to the masses. But, today, here I am. I have composed this one in my brain over the last few days and I've finally gotten some time to share some thoughts with you....and my Momma mentioned that I hadn't blogged in a while. :)
I love personality tests. If you've followed me for a long time or know me well personally, you know this about me. I love for others around me to take them so I can figure out how to best relate to them and love them well. I am an INFJ if you're a Meyers-Briggs junkie like I am. Just thought I'd throw that in there because it's my favorite test and seemingly very accurate. I did just take an enneagram test recommended to me by a friend, and I found it to be interesting as well. So, enough of the sorta digress, but, because I love personality tests and finding more about myself and others, I took a test a bazillion years ago to see what was my spiritual gift. My spiritual gift was overwhelmingly the gift of encouragement. Thus, I became a cheerleader. Okay, maybe that's not exactly why, but it sure helped. Not only did I use my spiritual gift on a football field, but I have continued to use it and to make it a very important part of my career - can you get any more close to a time where you need an encourager than when you are pregnant or laboring? - and I use it daily with my family and friends.
We live in a society that loves to point fingers at one another. A society that is lazy and plays the blame game. We roll our eyes at each other and bad talk what one another is doing when it's not quite what we would have chosen ourselves, and God forbid if we don't look how people think we should or talk how people think we should. I'm guilty. Like super guilty. Sometimes, when you identify as an encourager by nature, these things really get to you in the worst way. I wonder often if I am doing enough encouraging these days. Here's what got me thinking about the topic and why it is so important to me: On Monday, my girls and I went to eat lunch at Panera bread. As we walked in, my oldest child held the door for a lady as she walked in. The lady seemed to barely acknowledge us and just sort of nodded. About ten minutes later, my daughter even made the comment that she had tried to be kind and hold the door for the lady and she didn't say thank you to her. I used it as an opportunity to tell her that we shouldn't expect anything in return, but that we should always just be kind and do what was right and that should be enough in our hearts. Well, as if on cue, about five minutes pass, and the lady comes up to our table. She addresses my girls and tells my oldest "thank you for holding the door for me as I walked in", she looks at my youngest and comments on how she noticed her behaving well at the lunch table. She reached into her purse and gave each of them a light up ring. She looked me in the eye and said "you are doing a wonderful job with these girls. I just wanted you to know". I sat there, stunned for a minute, because us Mommas don't do these kind of things enough to one another. I know I had tears in my eyes as I said "thank you, you don't know how much this means to me". Not only was it an example to my girls on how kindness doesn't go unnoticed, even when you think it does, but it also was a reminder to me of the power of encouragement. Encouraging words speak life. This lady spoke life into me, a weary Momma just trying to get by and raise wonderful people, have a beautiful marriage, be a hard worker who does a good job, be the kind of friend that friends are happy to have, be a present, loving daughter, and show Jesus to the world. Her words have echoed in my head all week long. So much more refreshing than the words that the world wants me to have hammered in my head of how I am not enough or how I am not the kind of person that I should be.
A second thing occurred this week that showed me the power of encouragement. I shared something very important to me with someone that I consider a friend - definitely not a close friend, but a little more than an acquaintance. As I finished telling her, she jumped from her seat and gave me a huge hug and offered some kind words of encouragement. I probably looked shocked, as this person had never hugged me before, but it wasn't a fake hug, it was a legit hug that matched her level of caring about me as a person and genuine caring for what I had shared with her. It was at that moment, after those two encounters with encouragers this week that I have re-thought my spiritual gift as an encourager. I know it is really my gift, but I think that sometimes I get so caught up with the heaviness of my own agenda, to-do list, or issues in my life, that I forget to encourage others enough. I'm good at it with my family and patients, but I think my friends often fall by the wayside because I don't want them to think I'm over the top or that I'm all up in their business. I sometimes am even better at it with strangers - like if I see a Mom breastfeeding in public - you best to bet that I'm gonna send her a fist bump and a high five! So, if you are a friend of mine and need some encouragement - I'm so fired up with encouragement right now, I'd probably do a toe touch for you - or at least a high kick!
Since I feel like some of my blogs ought to end in a challenge or a point sometimes, here it goes: this week, use your encouragement. It may not be your spiritual gift - like (yikes) it is NOT my husband's...but he has several wonderful gifts that I completely am horrible at. That's why God put us together :) Everyone can look someone in the face and be kind or encourage someone to have a good day or be excited for a friend, tell them they are loved, or help them through a hard time. Use your words - they mean so so so much in the lives of others. They can breathe life or they can destroy....but that's a whole 'nother blog. Ha ha.
I'll try not to be so long next time. Writers gotta write :)
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