Have you considered the impact your encouraging words can make on others? Throughout my life, encouragement from others has changed the way I look at situations, picked me up when I felt low, helped me try new things, and pushed me to reach for my dreams.
When I was pretty young, about eight or nine, our music leader in Sunday school told me I had a pretty singing voice. She also told me that when I got older, I should join our choir. I'll never forget that because she is the first person I remember telling me I could sing well.
Your encouraging words can open others' eyes to something they've never considered before. You may be the first person to ever tell them they can do that particular thing, and the simple words, "You do that well," are often enough to give them the desire to try.
When I was about fourteen, I emailed one of my uncles part of the fantasy book I was writing - he was one of the first people I got the courage to show it to. Looking back now I know how horrible it was, yet he was very encouraging. He pointed out things he said he liked, gave suggestions, and asked a lot of questions about consistency. He could've crushed me had he been too harsh, or he could've disillusioned me had he simply told me it was great. Instead, he took the time to explain what didn't exactly work and give me ideas, while at the same time praising my efforts.
Never underestimate the time you invest in giving encouragement and honest critique/opinion. You should be careful to balance your words of praise and words of critique, but always be honest. Tell them what you think, while at the same time being an encouragement. You can help them improve and show them things they might not have seen that way before.
When I was sixteen Grace Pennington said,
“You're
becoming quite the poet! You must put them into a book or something.
I'd buy it.” I had been thinking about self publishing "someday", but her words spurred me into action. Why did her words mean so much? Because she had showed me multiple times before that she cared about me, and that she wanted me to succeed. She believed in me, and that knowledge gave me the push to chase my dream.
As a friend, you can be a powerful encouragement. Learn about what excites them, guard what they tell you, be honest, watch what you say, remember they are different from you, be someone trustworthy - be the kind of friend to them that you'd want. Encourage them to do what they long to, and let them know the good you see. At any age the knowledge that someone you trust believes in you is a powerful thing - I know.
Though I don't have a specific story I'd like to share for this point, I consider it important to mention anyway. People have made a big difference in my life and helped me by doing this simple thing: Listening. Stop talking, or typing, or saying everything you think others need to hear. Just shush for a moment. Let them know they have your attention. You can say all the "right" words and it won't mean anything if you've blown off what they've been trying to say to you. We all want to know that when we speak, others are listening - really listening. Sometimes all we need to do to be an encouragement is to show that we care enough to be quiet and listen to what others have to say.
I want to point out the good I see in others and encourage them to share what they love. I want to listen and care, even when I'm not sure what to say. I want to be someone who takes the time to make a difference in the lives of those around me. I want to pass on the blessing that I was given.
Will you seek to do the same for those in your life? When sharing the love of God - every minute is worth it.
Congratulations! I will be emailing the three of you sometime today, (if I haven't already ;) ), so be on the lookout for it!
I'd like to thank everyone who got an ebook copy of Zeal Aspiring during the free five day sale! I was able to give away 82 copies, and received three new reviews!
And thank you to everyone who participated and made this book giveaway successful! ^_^ We really appreciate it!
Sixteen, So In Love With You is full of poems that show God's power, patience, kindness, and love, through the eyes of myself at sixteen. They also portray the struggles and questions of growing up and trusting inGod's perfect plan.
Zeal Aspiring examines lessons learned from walking with God, and shares my ponderings about friendship, growing up, hardships, life, and redemption.
"Actors for years, eight teenagers work alongside hundreds of others to create a medieval film full of astounding battle sequences, when unforeseen circumstances throw them into a real battle. Two opposing forces divide the teens and new, mind-blowing possibilities are presented to them about who they really are. Sent on a quest to find relics of years gone by, the young warriors encounter things that send them reeling, surpass the bounds of reality, and remove all doubt of their past. Adventures are not always what you make them out to be, sometimes they are so much more..."
To enter to win one of these prizes, all you have to do to is sign in with the rafflecopter and perform one of the tasks to earn entries. (Several of the sharing options can be preformed once daily) This giveaway is open starting December 9th and ends at 12:00AM on the 17th. (EST)
In other news, I'm pleased to announce that Zeal Aspiring will be (hopefully)free on Kindle December 10th (tomorrow, 'cause I had technical difficulties...) through the 14th! (If you don't have a kindle, Amazon has a free downloadable app for the computer. ) Currently it's on sale for 99 cents. :)
Thank you for your time! Hope you're having a good Christmas. :D
(Note: Due to shipping cost, the book giveaway is open to USA participants only.)
Theodora Ashcraft is a young writer and a dear friend of mine. She has published a book of short stories and poetry, "Of Whispers And Wanderings " and next week I will be sharing how you can enter a drawing for a signed copy of her book, as well as a few others. (USA participants only, sorry. )
I'd like to share with you today a short story Theodora wrote back in September. It was partly inspired by a poem I wrote, Still Will He Hold, and really captures the reminder that God loves us, even when we fail.
The rain falls in the dusk, a whispering cascade of droplets cold against my face.
I huddle in the corner; against a boulder. Tears stream down my face, and I tremble.
I can hear Him approaching. My heart pounds in my head. I’m all too aware that He knows where I am; He always does. But I hold onto the vain hope that perhaps He doesn’t this time.
At the end of May I shared a post titled Because I Prayed For A Blessing , talking about my experience with answered prayer when asking God for the blessing of direction, and about my upcoming summer in Wildwood New Jersey at The Boardwalk Chapel. So much has happened since I made that post... Ha, and don't worry, I'm not under any illusion I can cram about 3 months of adventures into this post... I don't think I could do it well anyway... But I'm going to try my best and share some of what I did and how much I learned.
So let me tell you a little bit about where I was, and what I did.
I was in Wildwood
New Jersey - a place that runs pretty heavily around tourism, and has its fair share of people selling drugs, and or being drunk(Leastways during the summer). The boardwalk has a
fair-like atmosphere with rides on the piers, games, junk food, and
shops that sell random stuff. Right in the midst of it all is the
Boardwalk Chapel, which, as we like to say, is the only free thing on
the Boardwalk, haha.
This
was the 69th
summer fortheBoardwalk Chapel. Every night Monday –
Saturday we had programs from 8:00 to about 9:30 (depending if we
started on time). Every program
we sang, did a few skits, and visiting pastors would give 2 sermons
about 15 minutes each. Some passerby would come
and sit down, others would linger just outside, while others would
hurry past, or even shout 'Hail satan' or other things into the
Chapel.
We
didn't do the programs all alone either, that's for sure. Most weeks we had awesome youth groups from other
states helping us; They did the programs on Thursdays so we could
have the night off. They also would go out witnessing with us
when we went out, though sometimes they wouldn't say much during the
conversations. Ha, sometimes I felt so inadequate as I went out witnessing with them - me being the "staffer" and so assumingly knowing what I was doing when really I didn't feel that way. "Oh God give me strength."
There
were 15 of us on staff who lived together (The pastor and two of his sons were also on staff, but they lived in their own home. We also had James who came on and off throughout the summer to help with work projects and repair the buildings.) – most of us were between
the ages of 17 and 25, though we had house parents who were older and
had 3 little boys ages 1 and a half, 4 and 6. We all lived in the
Dunn house, which used to be a boarding house at one point and was
donated to the ministry to house the staff. The guys lived on the
first floor and the girls lived on the second floor – we had a
living room but if we were hanging out in the house it was always in
the kitchen. There's food there. ;)
After
the programs we either had seminars on worldview or apologetics, or
went out witnessing. (Sometimes we did both if we had enough time.)
We'd witness until about midnight then all head back to the Dunn
house, have food together, and tell each-other about our
conversations. It was always so encouraging to come back and discuss how it went and we'd often pray for the people we'd witnessed to as a group.
I'll admit it, I've been mostly in a pretty much Christian bubble before this summer. And witnessing... well, witnessing can be interesting...
I've
talked to drunk people, heard more swear words than I ever have
before, and spoken to people who admit that they don't have hope and
say that there isn't any hope in this world at all...It's hard to talk to people who act
like they're okay with how broken the world is – the ones who
believe “the world just is as it is”, but if religion makes us
happy then, “Well that's nice. You have fun with that.”
It's also hard to talk to the people who are so sure
they are good enough for God – that their goodness outweighs their
bad so if there is a God He will let them in., 'cause,“Only
really bad people go to hell.”
It's
hard 'cause in many ways it hurts to see how lost they are... To often hear how life is going for them, and all they see is the pointlessness of it all. Ah yes. That hurts my heart...
On
the other-hand it's amazing to see when people get it. When they're
listening and asking questions, and obviously want the tracts –
even to the point of asking, “Are you giving those out?” (That question is so exciting to me. When they ask us if they can have them that usually means they're curious and they sometimes flip through it and ask more questions. ^_^ )
One
time I was out with 2 other staffers and we talked to this woman and
her 3 daughters who all said they were Christians. The mother asked
us, “How did you get to be like this? How did you become so
joyful in your faith?” So we told them about how living for
Jesus should change the way we live – that we shouldn't be content
to go through the motions, but that our faith should be evident in
our everyday lives - that though we have hard times, that we seek to trust God in them and what a difference that has made in us. In every encounter with people we wanted to show others that when we speak and act that it's not going through the motions - we truly care about them as individuals made by God and want them to know Him too. That is what I pray we left with them - a renewed passion to seek God and a desire for faith that changes their lives. I
want to thank all of you who supported me in going on this trip
through prayers and financial support. It was such an amazing
learning experience this summer. I got to learn more about music,
other worldviews, and how to witness. It was so different from my
limited experience with life, and I was so blessed by the friendships and
learning that I've taken away from it. Thank you for your part in making this trip everything it was.
If you'd like to read a blog post about this summer by another young lady on staff you can click here: Link and read Susie's post on "Missing Missions-Siblings". She wrote it exactly right... 'cause yeah, I miss them too... It's been a few months since being home but there are still days when I wish to have just one more day to be with them. We were a family. We laughed and teased - we cried and talked about life and loss. We were silly. We sang. We prayed for each other. We took walks and talked about our homes, lives, learning experiences, and our thoughts on Christ and what He'd been teaching us. Two times that are very vivid in my memory is the time several of us gathered together listening/reading poetry, and the time where we sat on the front porch at past midnight talking about Heaven... Many times we went down to the beach early in the morning to watch the sunrise and sing hymns. We didn't have to be together as much as we were, but almost without fail even on our days off we'd spend the time hanging out. We genuinely wanted to be a part of each other's lives and learn more about each other. Living with those who put being "brothers and sisters in Christ" into action is... well, it's hard for me to put into words how uplifting it was...
I never thought to ask God to put someone like Susie on staff to be my closest friend for the summer (and stay in contact with upon returning home). I never thought to ask Him to allow me to use and share my poetry this summer. I never thought to ask Him to give me opportunities to speak in front of people. I never thought to ask Him to help me learn more confidence in singing. I never thought to ask Him to change me this summer... but He did.
Know what I saw this summer? I saw reminders of God's care for us in the little things (like the time we didn't have a youth group and I prayed people would come in the Chapel to fill the emptiness and God answered). I saw Christians, firm in their faith, coming together to share the gospel, care for each other, and serve their very best in the different aspects of the ministry. I saw others who have a love for the lost and were willing to spend the summer sharing God's word. Every day I saw the love and encouragement they shared with each other and to those we came in contact with. I saw the body of Christ in action - His hands, His feet, His touch, His voice... He is in each of us and this summer was overflowing with examples of His power and grace. May God continue to bless His work in New Jersey and around the world.
~Ophelia - Marie
If you'd like to find out more about the Chapel and how you could become involved, you can go to their website: http://boardwalkchapel.org/ or click any of the previous links to go to the Facebook page.
This shell was a gift to a dear friend of mine when we had to part for an undetermined amount of time.
"From Christian to Christian life is only full of temporary goodbyes..."
That's what makes me smile, even when missing people makes me want to cry... Even as I get older, busier, and friends do the same, I remember that the friendships we have here are only a reflection of what we will have in glory... Until then I have to trust that the friends I love belong to God first and He can take our friendships where He wills.
Sarlun
woke up to the sound of her screaming. Before his half-awake mind
could register what was happening, he flung himself out of bed, fists
raised. Her high, terrified screams easily pierced through the thin
walls that separated their rooms. An eerie pause of silence filled
air for a few seconds, then the sound of sobs came from the other
room. Moonlight
shown dimly in from his small window, enough for him to take in
everything at a glance. Sarlun's shoulders slumped as he came fully
awake. He sat down hard on the edge of the bed as she screamed again. It'd
been two weeks since last time... he had hoped – No. He had
known... Perhaps it was selfish that he had tried to make himself
believe she had been fine this past week since she hadn't woken
him...but when you can't do anything, sometimes your mind tries to
tell you things are getting better. Another
sob came, then faded into low whimpers that could barely be heard.
Sarlun sighed. He should try to go back to sleep; tomorrow was going
to long enough without him staying up half the night. He
cared too much to do that. He
stood and crossed the room. Quietly opening his door, he walked into
the dark hallway. Her door was cracked, just barely, and he pushed it
open. His
chest clenched at the sight of her. Oh
Kalla. The
small girl lay on her bed, curled in a fetal position. The patchwork
blanket was twisted around her body and her pale hair was wet with
sweat. She whimpered again and the sound rose into a wail before
abruptly cutting off. Tears tracked down her face and her hands
grasped fistfuls of the blanket. Sarlun
crept silently into the room and took the three legged stool from the far corner.
Placing it in the center of the room, he sat on it and took a shaky
breath. She cried out again, this time quieter, and he clenched the tip of his tongue between his teeth. A familiar ache welled up in his stomach as he watched her... He was helpless.... "My dear little sister..." The whispered words hung in the air, and he took in another shuddering breath. It hurt to watch her. She had been eight years old when he found her almost a year and a half ago - a thin, dirty,
wide eyed orphan who had tried to steal his allowance from his
pocket. He had been thirteen – a sidetracked boy in the market,
trying to find his mother the perfect gift for her birthday. That day
he brought his mother home a daughter, and gained himself a little
sister. At
first his parents had tried to convince Kalla to sleep in one of the
nicer rooms in the large new addition, but when Kalla found out
Sarlun's room was in the attic she wanted to sleep there. They set
her up in the little room next to his, though they made
it clear that if she wanted to be downstairs in the room next to
theirs they would be glad to have her. That
first night had been much like this one. Sarlun had woke up to the
sound of her screaming, only that time he had run straight into her
room and tried to shake her awake. She
had sat up and looked at him with clear, tear filled eyes and smacked
him hard across the face. As he gaped at her in stunned silence, she
had hissed in a trembling voice, “Never wake me from my dreams.”
Then she had started crying again, clinging to him and whispering, “I
hate to sleep, but I must dream. I must! I must! I must!” He had
awkwardly wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his
shoulder. “They need
me. I have to dream!” A
Dreamer... not many would trust another with that kind of secret. Maybe it was because she was young, maybe it was because she was a
girl, but for whatever reason Sarlun was not afraid. “I'll
never tell,” he had whispered into her hair. Then,
because he hadn't known what else to do, he sang to her the song his
mother used to when he was small.
“Rest,
little one,
Quiet
your cries.
Listen
to the sound
Of
gentle lullabies.
Tomorrow
is coming
So
lay down your fears.
May
the light of the dawning,
Dry
all of your tears.”
They
never talked about that first night, and he never woke her again...
Yet on the nights she woke him, he came into her room and sang until
her cries softened. Even
one as powerful and distrusted as a Dreamer deserved someone to
comfort them.
~Ophelia - Marie
(If you'd like to read the rest of the song, you can see it here: Lullaby Rest)
Personally, I've been working a lot more on making goals in my life. An example that comes to mind is my desire to memorize part (if not someday all ) of Romans. To help me with this goal (which I struggle to practice consistently) I've been writing down in a little note book every day I practice and what I'm able to recite. Doing that has helped me see my progress, and keeps me from getting overwhelmed when I'm tempted to look at the big picture - memorizing whole chapters...
See, goals don't have to be about doing the most you can do, the fastest you can, and doing it until you can't think to do anything else - goals can be small, consistent habits that you work on for set amounts of time. Those type of goals are the ones you will more likely achieve.
This post by Jeremiah Stiles on his blog, Another Otherworld, reminded me that often if you want to enjoy something to the fullest you need to make well defined, reachable goals and take time to enjoy other things.
It seems that if I let myself go, my goal is to write as much as I can as well as I can as fast as I can. Nonstop. Though of course I don’t really think this–but that’s the problem. I don’t think anything else either.
Hold on. I'm about to ramble and throw lots of links. ;)
I've been listening to The Struggle and Empty My Hands by Tenth Avenue North a lot lately. Thinking about struggling, about failing, about... going back to old patterns I thought I could get rid of on my own...
"There's a wreckage, there's a fire, There's a weakness in my love, There's a hunger I can't control. Lord I falter and I fall down, And I hold on to the chains you broke When You came down and saved my soul. Save my soul.
Hallelujah, We are free to struggle. We're not struggling to be free! Your blood bought and makes us children - Children drop your chains and sing!"
-The Struggle
"I've got voices in my head and they are so strong. And I'm getting sick of this, oh Lord, how long Will I be haunted by the fear that I believe? My hands like locks on cages Of these dreams I can't set free.
But if I let these dreams die, If I lay down all my wounded pride, If I let these dreams die Will I find that letting go lets me come alive?
So empty my hands, Fill up my heart, Capture my mind with You."
-Empty My Hands
That last bit is really my prayer... I want my hands to be empty of the things that I don't need in my life, my heart to be full with the love and peace God can supply, and my mind - my whole self - to be captured with Jesus. Oh for grace to trust Him more...
God has been showing me, over and over again that He loves me. He understands that I stumble and fall down, but He loves me anyways... Some days though, I hold on to the broken chains and cry out at their weight... He has to keep reminding me I don't have to lug them around anymore. He has set me free, and I am His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
This is a quote from one of my favorite fantasy series:
"Although the key to the lock has been provided, they refuse to employ it, even those who verbally profess the same faith. They hold onto the chains, because a faithless life seems easier to them than the sacrificial suffering that you and every other oracle* is called to live. They even drag those chains and moan about their weight, yet they still refuse to let them go, even though they are told time and again that every lock has been rendered powerless by the Lord Christ. " - The Bones of MakaidosPage 344.
(* This word could also be written as 'Christian' in my opinion, but in the story, the person being spoken to is an Oracle. )
This short story called 'Taken Captive' by Hannah Rebekah on her blog is the reason I ended up starting this post. It reminded me of those two songs, and all the other thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head.
“But I’m here to free you anyway.”
The words stop me in my tracks.My brain freezes, unable to continue its line of thought.A question rises to my lips, “Why?”He pauses before he speaks again, and a look of pain is etched on his face.He’s disappointed in me again.I’ll never get it right.
“Because I love you.Don’t you understand that yet?”
Loves me. No, loved me.Before I messed up again, before I ruined what we had.There’s no way he can love me now.And there’s no way he’ll ever pay my debt again, not after what I did to him.
“You’re wrong,” he says simply, as if he can read my mind.
“You can’t pay my debt this time,” I say.“I won’t let you go through that again, not for me.”
“I don’t have to.”
What?Of course he had to.That is, if he really did want me to be free again.
“I paid for it all last time.I knew what you would do, and I covered that when I set you free the first time.You are the only person keeping you here.”
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful naturea slave to the law of sin.
Chapter 8
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youfree from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
