Encouragement

Encouragement is very important in our lives whether you are a Christian or not. As a Christian, we are told to encourage one another. It is mentioned over and over to encourage one another on a daily basis. They even sent people to travel a long distance just to encourage a group of Christians to keep on going. Satan is always attacking and if you have those words of encouragement to keep on going, then you realize you aren't alone and it gives you that boost you need to keep going. We as humans are so ready to attack and judge one another, say hurtful things, or just not say anything and be silent. When we do those things, people feel alone, they feel like crawling in a hole and dying. You just feel like giving up.
We have a ministry with the homeless. It is a tough road. Every day we have to get up and make the choice to keep going even though sometimes you feel like you may not be getting anywhere. You go to the camps and nobody is there or walk the streets and can't find anyone because they are all hiding from the cops who keep making them move from one place to another. You go out and hear all the horror stories of how these people were abused as kids and come home crying and feeling overwhelmed with it all. It isn't easy. We love this ministry and the people, but it is hard. The one thing that keeps us going is hearing an encouraging word from someone whether it be by email, phone call, or a card in the mail. It is so awsome to get those words. They are so important to me that I have a file now that I keep them all. If you send an email with encouraging words, I copy it and put it in the file. If you send a card, it gets put in the file. That way, when we are having a rough day....we can pull those out and reread them.
We have also heard from the homeless where us being out there visiting them has actually saved their lives at times. We heard about one guy just today who said that my husband had saved his life a couple times because he was ready to end it. You never know how God is going to use your words. Please make an effort to give words of encouragement to your friends and family. Don't tear them down, build them up. Don't be silent and think they are doing just fine or think somebody else is probably encouraging them so why bother. You never know. They may be feeling lonely and you have just the words they need to hear. I want to challenge you to do a study on the word "encouragement" in the Bible. We all need encouragement and God thought it was so important that He showed us examples in the Bible of just what extent they went through to encourage one another. Be an encourager, not a destroyer. What an awsome and even free gift to give someone.....ENCOURAGEMENT.