Tag Archives: pieces of puzzle

Encourage One Another

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imageNada, Thuong, and Kim stop by just to hang out with us.

Encouragement.
Who doesn’t need or appreciate being encouraged by someone else? We may sometimes be tempted to think that we manufacture our own strength, that we can somehow sustain ourselves with our positive attitude. But I think that deep down we are wired to need -and give- encouragement.

In the depths of our soul we recognize that the sum of our strengths, gifts, and talents leave us quite short of being self sufficient. In other words, we need each other. As I was sharing with the young Jewish man who came to visit (see Dec 22 blog), we each carry a piece of another’s puzzle. No one has all the pieces they need without engaging with others. One of the ways we share the piece (peace?) someone else needs is to speak encouragement in their life.

I remember this being modeled to me over twenty years ago by Dr. Terry Penniman. And it changed my life. I had the privilege of coteaching health care administration classes with Terry at the local community college. One day, we stopped by a local Dairy Queen for lunch. I was eager to grab a quick bite and visit with Terry before heading back to class. Terry, on the other hand, had cultivated the art of encouraging others. It had become part of who he was. Seeing the new store manager, Terry commented on what a nice job the young man had done cleaning up the place and making it a welcoming place to have lunch. Their conversation probably didn’t last more than a few minutes. But from the expression on the young manager’s face, I am certain it positively impacted his afternoon. Encouragement does that. It increase our capacity to carry on. It builds us up and gives us the strength to encourage others. (Thank you, Terry!)

And encouraging others pumps us up too. I like to share with others:

BLESSINGS ALWAYS TRAVEL ON TWO-WAY STREETS

Keeping our focus on strengthening others keeps us from focusing negatively on our own pity parties. Living with the intentional focus on building up each other gives us perspective and passion for living through whatever circumstances challenge us, including this present cancer.

And the beauty of encouragement is that there so many creative ways to encourage each other. An affirming word, recognizing someone’s value and contribution, a short handwritten note or brief email, a small (or extremely generous) gift, an engaging smile, a helpful deed performed without being asked.

It seems the only prerequisite is that it must be genuine. No form of insincere flattery will do. Attempts to just make someone feel better without valuing them ring hollow and will in the end discourage rather than encourage the other.

How have others encouraged you? How have you been encouraged? Share a comment by clicking ‘reply.’ Your contribution will likely be an encouragement to others. Spread the word and share the blog with others who need an encouraging word. You can click “Follow” at the top of the page to receive updates directly via email.

“Encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14

Did you hear the one about the Muslim, the Christian, and the Jew?

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It sounds like the opening of a bad joke, but in this case, it is part of the continuing story that God is weaving around this “bump in our road.” Yesterday, we shared the story of an interesting conversation with a stranger who is Muslim. Today brought another unexpected conversation, this time with a Jewish man.

It had been a good day, though tiring. Marcia had just left to return to Newton and I was resting when a young man stopped by to visit me. I thought to myself, “I don’t know this guy from Adam,” and then he introduces himself saying, “Hi, my name is Adam.” He proceeded to tell me that he volunteers here to get more hospital experience as part of his college studies.

He asked me how I was doing and I told him the absolute truth: that I am doing great because God has been so merciful to me in this medical situation. I must have said something about Jesus strengthening me, because he replied, “I’m Jewish.” With no sense of God’s hand over my mouth today and with a feeling of Judeo-Christian connectedness to this man, I shared how I too believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I told him that it was the very testimonies of faith of the Old Testament (his Jewish Bible) that spoke so clearly to me in my hospital stay, briefly citing three examples:

  • Abraham was ‘fully persuaded’ that God had power to do what He promised.
  • Joshua pursued wisdom, courage, and strength in his time of need. (See our earlier blog about this.)
  • Daniel’s contemporaries maintained strong faith in the midst of a (literally) fiery trial.

But the puzzled look on his face stopped me. He told me he didn’t know these stories and that it had been a long time since he had been to “services.” He quickly added that as a Jewish man he did observe certain customs and traditions.

Seeking one more attempt to link with this young man, I told him how my Jewish “aunt” would say, “We all hold pieces of each other’s puzzle,” that each of us were given ‘extra’ pieces to share with others. He said that he had never thought of life that way, that it must be true, and that he would have to think about that.

He changed the subject to the pictures on the table of my family and left shortly after. And I thought to myself about the difference between the tradition of going to church (thinking that God lives in a building) and experiencing a real personal relationship with the one true living and loving God.

Faith is belief that we act on. It is like a muscle; the more we exercise it, the stronger it becomes.