An Encouragement On Encouragement

Sometimes in life we get so busy and become, quite honestly, very egocentric. Not even meaning to, we turn our eyes to focus only on our lives. But there are so many people out there that could use encouragement from you!
A while back, I did a series called “the encouragement project.” Each week, I would give a list of ideas to do to encourage a certain genre of people. They ranged from single mothers to pastors. I had an amazing experience writing the blog posts because each week, not only was I able to share ideas with others, it spurred me on to use my own gifts and time to encourage others in different ways.
Here is a summary of practical ideas I (and others) had for lifting up others. None of them are extravagant or pricey- I wanted to list simple ideas that most anyone can do.(Click on each title to read the original post in its entirety)
1.) Encouraging our spouses I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our spouses first. Often, it seems as if the person living under our own roof gets the least encouragement from us. So how can we encourage them? Write a love letter (it’s free!) and tuck it somewhere fun. Fix his favorite meal.If you’re not married yet, write a letter to your future spouse. Imagine how fun that will be to give him on your wedding day! For married and single people, I suggest reading The Five Love Languages in order to learn what makes your mate feel loved. For the single ladies, it will be eye opening to learn more about yourself, as well as a head start on your future marriage!

me with my honey.
2.) Encouraging single mamas (or daddies) I love all women, but if there is one type of lady that I have a huge heart for, it is single mamas. The longest I have been without Ben is two weeks, and it gave me infinitely more respect for moms who must parent alone day after day. My BFF is a single mom to 4 kids, and she amazes me every day. So what can we do to help them? When you’re cooking for your own family, make an extra casserole and drop it by. Offer to keep her kids for a few hours so she can grocery shop or have dinner with a friend. Give up your lunches out for a month and buy her some extra groceries or diapers. Take her shopping and let her pick out a new shirt. Chances are, it’s been a while since she had one.

one of my favorite single mamas!
3.) Encourage your children or other children in your life Sometimes it is so easy to view children as a nuisance and inconvenience. But God has given them to us (he chose us as their parents, whether by birth or adoption!) and they are blessings- even if it is hard to remember that when they are asking you for candy for the one millionth time that day while strewing your clean laundry all over the house! The best thing we can do for them? Give them our attention. Go play with them the first time they ask, instead of delaying it all day. Stick a sweet note in their lunch boxes. If you don’t have kiddos, think of the kids in your life. Spend an afternoon at the park with them. If you have them time, you could also sign up to be a Big Brother/Big Sister mentor to a child.

with my sweet babies
4.) Encourage those with chronically ill children. I wrote the original post for my sweet friend Sarah’s blog. She has a chronically ill child who requires lots of extra care and time. The women with whom God has placed these children don’t get a lot of time for themselves. How about bringing over some nail polish and painting her nails? Bring dinner, too if you can. If you feel comfortable, and it’s medically okay, volunteer to stay with the child for an hour or two so the mama can get out of the house for a bit. I think this portion of the population is overlooked, and we can really make a difference in someone’s life!

Sarah’s daughter Peyton
5.) Encourage the older people in your life. It seems that in our lives of living apart from grandparents and great-grandparents, it’s easy to never be around older people. It’s like that for my family a lot. This is really so sad because we can learn so much from the older generations, and they can benefit from our help and encouragement. If you still have living grandparents, take time to write them a letter, or if that isn’t possible, think back on your life to older people who have influenced you. I am sure they would love to hear from you. If you have an older neighbor, go visit with them. Take them some homemade cookies. Anything to let them know they are not forgotten.