THE ENCOURAGERS LIFE

From the tiny body, that occupied the seat at the kitchen table, came one of the loudest grunts I have ever heard in my life.  It was homework time, and while they aren't the most stressful thing... yet, my young child looked frustrated while tapping furiously at my device. He had got one wrong on his quiz. Never mind the amazing score of correct answers he achieved, he was annoyed at the ONE question that caught him out. As I reasoned with him that it was ok to get things wrong and make a mistake, he replied with a sentence that echoed in my very soul. "But I don't want to make mistakes." In that moment I saw myself in him. I remembered standing in front of my friend after church just pouring myself out to her and explaining, through tears and snot I may add, that I just wanted to be good. I have made many wrong turns in my life. I have went against my instinct when it came to relationships. I have been mean from time to time. I have wrestled with feelings of anger a...

I have been in the stage of my journey, were I have been questioning a lot. "Am I able to do this? Look at those other people crushing it, what am I doing? Will this work out?" and so on and so on. The thing with being an encourager is that people presume that you have it all together.  That you know how to rise above every circumstance.   That you have a fix for every situation. That you are there to shoulder others and that we have mastered your own, 'deepest and darkest.' The fact is, I need the words that come through me as much as those you who are reading these pages. I struggle and have struggled. And I am glad for it. Because then I know how others feel. And our experiences make us powerful. It allows us to remind others of the capabilities inside them. I know who I am. I have spent decades developing that knowledge. I know what I am called to do and nothing will stop me living that dream. However it doesn't mean I don't struggle. It doesn't mean I...