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I was told one time in a Bible study that I was a prophet.\u00a0 Not someone who predicted the future and not someone who preached.\u00a0 But the people who labeled me a prophet did so because I gave them another way of looking at a situation or issue.\u00a0 I spoke or wrote something that caused their brain to see an issue from another viewpoint.\u00a0 I showed them another perspective for example.<\/p>\n
That was supposed to be my \u201cgift\u201d.\u00a0 Something that I could share with others that would make a positive impact on their lives.\u00a0 Have you ever heard the scripture that says that a prophet is not accepted in his hometown?\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 I do not want to be a prophet.\u00a0 I want to be an encourager.<\/p>\n
Do you know anyone that is an encourager?\u00a0 I am blessed to know a few. \u00a0Those people always seem to have something positive to say to encourage me and others.\u00a0 They can look at my worse image and say something encouraging.\u00a0 Not a gushy lie about how much they love it but something that\u2019s generic but nice.\u00a0 Their words are said, not so much with loving words but in a loving way.<\/p>\n
They talk to me (and others) as though they were cheering us on as we were bringing up the last place in a race.\u00a0 \u201cHey!\u00a0 You did it!\u00a0 You finished.\u201d\u00a0 They say it as though it was the very best thing ever.\u00a0 Smiling, clapping, giving you a standing ovation when you cross that finish line hours after the other runners have gone home!<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the person I want to be. The one cheering you on. The encourager.<\/p>\n
The challenges that I have been working on have given me a chance to practice being an encourager as well as receiving encouragement.\u00a0 A camaraderie grows among those of us who are participating.\u00a0 There is a discussion in our forum just for these challenges and as we share our struggles we realize that there are several issues that are \u201cchallenging\u201d us.<\/p>\n
We need to be disciplined and motivated to create daily but time management is also an issue for some, especially for those who work full time or have small children.\u00a0 However, at the end of the day we can find replies to our issues in that forum or comments under our images that are both supportive and encouraging.<\/p>\n
I am given the chance every day to comment under many participants\u2019 images that they created specifically for that day.\u00a0 Sometimes I know that it was a struggle for that artist (an illness, pressures at work, etc.) to create or finish their work because I\u2019ve read about it in our discussions. \u00a0\u00a0Sometimes I don\u2019t really care for their image.\u00a0 But every day I have been given many chances to encourage those artists to keep creating.\u00a0 To be present and in the race.\u00a0 To be proud of their accomplishment of finishing the task at hand.<\/p>\n
I would like to think that I\u2019m getting better at being an encourager.\u00a0 But I believe that the important thing is that I\u2019m trying.\u00a0 I\u2019m aware that my words can encourage and support and I\u2019m looking for words that do just that.\u00a0 I am learning that we can be encouragers even if that\u2019s not \u201cour gift\u201d.<\/p>\n
After all, can\u2019t we have more than one gift?<\/p>\n
I sure think so!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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