ENCOURAGEMENTŠLee Wise 2002I opened my email and read this from my friend Jim: "This is probably directly from God. I had a long chat with Keith yesterday about my need to be an encouragement to him. Thank you for the thought and good ideas on how to be what I need to be."I had shared with Jim some of the simple thoughts you are about to read. Then Jim sent me his note. You know what? I loved it! Such a simple thing. "Just" a note. I was encouraged. SO WHAT IS ENCOURAGEMENT?I like to think of encouragement this way: *"Encouragement is giving a moment of sunshine to the soul of another person."Just a moment of sunshine. Let me repeat that: "just a moment." Many times that is all we need, right? It was a short note from my friend. Very short. I doubt if it took him more than five minutesto write and less for me to read. But it touched my heart. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE MANY! The beauty of encouragement is that it canbe delivered in so many types of "packages."It is as creative and thoughtful *as I am.* I can send a note, say a kind word, surprise someone with my own unique "sunshine basket" as my wife calls them, take an extra moment to "connect" with a person by my smile, And... You complete the rest!!Remember: "just a moment." ENCOURAGEMENT TAKES NO SPECIAL TALENTIt is not unique to any one person. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that eachone of us has the ability to make our expression of encouragement *unique to usand our situation.*We all have a huge "encouragement bank" from which we can withdraw to share with others.What a wonderful gift!! ENCOUAGEMENT CHANGES PEOPLEWhen you and I encourage others as a habitwe counter negativity, bitterness and complaining. We bring hope, healing and comfort. In short, we bring positive changes intoour world and the world of people aroundus. JUST FOR TODAY! Go ahead. Try it. Just for today. It doesn't matter if the one I choose to encourage doesn't respond in the best possible way. It really doesn't.The point is *I freely give it!*Besides, it's neat to lay my head down on thaton that pillow at the end of the day and knowI have tried. ONE MORE TIME! *"Encouragement is giving a moment of sunshine to the soul of another person."Got your moment of encouragement planned? Remember, someone just like Lee may be sittingat his computer waiting for that surprise package you will deliver to him today!!

Author: Lee Wise
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