We are experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades where we live. Everything is dry, brown, stunted and brittle. My front yard used to be green, vibrant and soft. On the weekends, I would go out barefoot and throw the football with my son. Walking on the grass used to be fun and energizing. Now we play in the street because I find it too depressing to feel the crunch of what can only be described as dry hay underfoot. All the plants, trees and flowers are learning to get by with little to no water. They are just surviving, not thriving! If I knew how to bring the rain, I would be in my front yard now doing my best cabbage patch dance!
Humanity is much like the Earth. We need encouragement like the Earth needs water. We, like my grass, will become dry, stunted and brittle without it. Many times, the difference between a life just surviving verses thriving is the giving and receiving of encouragement. Our lives become a shell of what we could be, and we will never reach our full potential because encouragement was held back like the heavens hold back the rain!
Listen to the definition of encouragement: Words or gestures that make someone more determined, hopeful, or confident; an action that makes someone more likely to do react positively; support of a kind that inspires confidence and a will to continue or develop. Just reading the definition of encouragement encourages me! We might not be able to make it literally rain, but we can make it “rain” on the soil of one’s soul with encouragement! Here are some ways you can do a rain dance on those around you and help to end the drought and bring back the vibrancy of life. Encouragement can come from: sincere words, a letter, an email, a text, a phone call, a smile, a hug, a touch, just listening, telling a story, a gift, public testimony about another, and hundreds of other ways! Don’t hold back the water of life. Instead, do a rain dance at least once a day, and watch the color come back into the world around you.
Find your passion and you will find your life