Encouragers

I am grateful for the encouragers in my life.  They came at so many different times.  There was an uncle who came to live with us after my Father's death.  He taught me my first lessons about dealing with the things that make us fearful.  There was a neighbor across the street who took me into the world of ham radio and, thus, gave me a special gift that helped me navigate critical adolescent years.  I remember, too, a college roommate who taught me how to tie a neck tie as well quietly showing me how to walk in Christ. 

These were just a few of the many who have stood alongside me at different times in my life.  When I entered into the ministry, I found encouragement coming from people I hardly knew.  They inspired me as I moved toward the middle and later years to reach out to some others who were starting the journey behind me.  And, even now there are folks who choose to stand alongside even though distances separate us.  God has graciously blessed me with encouragers throughout the years.  And, to this very day, I am blessed with the encouragement of others in my life.

I pray that it is a gift that I have been able to pass to others as their paths cross the one I walk.  I know of no other way to really express gratitude for this blessing in my own life other than letting such a blessing touch me and move into the lives of others.  It seems easy enough to do, but it is also easy to become so pre-occupied with the stuff of the struggles common to all of us that reaching out to encourage others becomes impossible because of those moments when navel gazing seems like all there is to do.  In those moments may God jerk me and, maybe you, too, up by the nape of the neck and with a kick set us back on the path of gratitude, blessings, and encouraging.