Day 152- Thankful for encouragement

Today, I am thankful for those of you who have been an encouragement to me.  You are the ones who have left encouraging comments, who have let me know if something I said or wrote touched your heart and made a difference.  I so appreciate all of you!

It has been my experience for most of my life, with a few exceptions, that I have not had people who encouraged me.  I wonder how many other people have had the same experience?  This was the case long before COVID-19 made its appearance.

There is so much that tears us down! 

We don’t know how many times the people we are with each day have been hammered into the ground and how much they might need some encouragement.  Some of the most discouraged people have learned the art of mask wearing, but they still need to be built up!!

I remember a number of years ago talking with a couple of ladies about how we need to encourage one another, and one of them said, “Yes, some people are so gifted at that!”

I understood her to be excusing herself from not encouraging others because she thinks she’s not good at it.  Did I misunderstand her?  I don’t know, because I didn’t have the courage to ask her.

God’s word tells us:

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

This is written to all believers, not just the ones who are “gifted” at encouraging others.

How are we going to get good at something, including encouraging others, if we don’t practice?

Today I’d like to offer any blogger the opportunity to encourage others via an

Encouraging Words Blog Party!!

This blog party has a few rules that I ask you please to observe for it to work properly.  This is about encouraging each other:

1. Choose one of your most encouraging blog posts to share with us.
2. In the comments below, leave a one-sentence explanation of why you think this will encourage others. Then leave the link to that post in the same comment.
3. Read at least one other blog post that you would not have normally read.
4. Find at least one thing in that post that you like and leave an encouraging comment about why you liked it.
5. Read more blogs and leave more encouragement for those bloggers as time allows!

Remember, this is a party, not a drive-thru!!  😀  Stick around and visit for a while!

(And, don’t stop practicing encouraging others!  Keep on practicing every day!)