Sunday Sentiments

 

I saw a post on Instagram this week that I really wish I would have captured in a screenshot. (I tried to go back to find it, but I was unsuccessful.) It talked about always taking every opportunity to encourage everyone around you every chance you get.

Sound like a bit much?

It's really not. 

The problem is that we think the encouraging things to ourselves, but those around us can't read our minds. So the things go unsaid. We presume the people around us would logically know what we're thinking because it's so obvious. But in most cases, I'm guessing they either don't think of the moment as anything special or they are seriously questioning themselves. Either way, what's the harm in taking two seconds to encourage?

* A couple of days ago, we helped out our fellow work department as they gifted the youth they serve with a pancake dinner. Ryan spent a couple of hours that afternoon standing outside in the freezing cold, grilling a few hundred sausage links so they would be all ready to go.

* Then he helped haul a couple of carloads of supplies from the parking lot to the dinner location. 

* Then he headed to the kitchen to make several hundred pancakes - all while making friends with the other two guys making pancakes.

* Then he helped tear down all the tables and chairs to put them away - and he swept the floor.

* Then he washed all the dishes.

* Then he helped carry all the boxes back to cars.

If you asked him, he'd say it was no big deal. But it was a VERY big deal to our coworker who was in charge of the evening. And the fact that he did it all so cheerfully and proactively was a great example to everyone around him. (And the truth of it was, it had been a long day, and this went late that night. We were all tired and in need of a cheerful fearless leader.)

Hebrews 10:24 says "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." I think a great way to do that is to just find every single opportunity we can to encourage every single person. 

Ryan? Thanks for all the hard work you did to make that night a success. You were an example to me (the one whose feet hurt) of how to push through and work hard to the very end of the evening. I love you for it. Good job!