Wind in Your Sails or a Big Rip?
Encouragement – Urging others to persist and persevere in the efforts to attain their goals; stimulating others toward love and good deeds (I Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 10:24)
What does encouragement look like to you? Are you motivated to take next steps toward a goal or a dream by money, by words of encouragement, by a partner in the process, or are you self motivated most of the time? Some of us don’t do well trying to finish a task or accomplish a goal alone. Others, as you know, don’t want anyone else around when working toward finishing a project of taking steps toward a goal.
The Covid shut down last year was just the pause in travel I needed to focus on finishing our basement. Don’t worry. I didn’t wire it or plumb it. I had professionals do those things, but much of the ceiling and wall cover, prime and paint, finish and trim I did with the help of my wife, daughter’s family, and a couple fo good friends, especially Rick. He came over to help me launch the work and gave me the encouragement that if I got stuck, he would be around to help during his time between work projects. He told me he would, and he did. That was encouragement. Some of the skills I needed, I had to learn from Rick or YouTube videos. What did we DIY’ers ever do with out being able to watch others do the same thing or a similar job giving us the encouragement that said, “You can do this?”
Sometimes I just needed another pair of hands or arms or legs. My grandchildren helped there as did Carol my wife. I made a couple of mistakes that undid some of the plumbers work as I sent a finishing nail into a water line. My son-in-law had experience with fixing those things and it had been a while since I had made that king of repair. He came over and helped me get it repaired correctly. He did such a good job that when I did the same thing a few weeks later in another room, I was able to repair it myself.
Sometimes I needed an expert to answer questions, and the folks at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and our local builders supply story gave me that in time to keep the project moving.
So, I am saying a couple of important things….at least they were and are important to me and those engaged in the project.
- We need help.
- Others need for us to need them.
- Engaging others helps them not only to learn but also to gain confidence.
- Engaging others helps set the stage for other important lessons learned: paying grandkids for their help, talking to them about how they are going to use the money, and encouraging saving some and tithing some of it tool Guess what? I saved thousands of dollars by getting help from friends and family, and we did a pretty good…maybe, very good—job of it.
- During the process of about 2 years from beginning to end, we had important conversations, exchanged life stories, played, laughed, undid stuff and redid it correctly, accomplished goals.
- We encouraged one another to love and good deeds by being patient and kind in the process. We saw God reveal His care even in the small things as well as the big as “good deals” came along to save us tons of money.
- We got to thank God for His provisions and blessings of fixing, building, repairing, and achieving the ultimate goal of a finished basement – complete with a pocket door (thanks, Rick), fake beams, barn doors, painted concrete floors, et al.
Whether or not you actually need to be encouraged, I promise you that many in your life need it. Your including them in your life and attempting to join them in theirs may be just the encouragement both of you need. Sounds like encouragement is a facet of love that needs to be shared and accepted.
You think?
Will you and I be the wind in the encouragement / achievement / dream sails of another or will be a big rip in it that lets the breeze go through with no positive impact? Will we encourage, include, and bolster or will we discourage, remain absent, and weigh down the aspiring heart of another? We have a chance to demonstrate to others how God views our potential as His children.
Let’s do that!