Encouragement...

Do you encourage other women? 

Or is this something, quite frankly, you struggle with?

Let’s face it, we’re all not natural hostesses or have ten best friends readily accessible!

However, we can all be encouragers, and in doing so, be blessed in return…

Now, I’m not saying I have all the answers…but what I will say is that I know some pretty amazingly, encouraging women, and have seen/experienced, some very inspiring encouragement…

So, I thought why not share it around, and encourage each other to encourage!

Let the flow of ideas begin…and share yours in the comment area below!

In preparation for this post, I decided to access the good old handy Thesaurus, to help stimulate my brain…and I was very impressed with what I found…so I thought; why not use this as a base!

So here goes…Encouragement, Thesaurus: English (U.K.)

                Reassurance

(comfort, assurance, encouragement, hope, guarantee, support, backing, faith)

Do you reassure the women around you and are you available if needed?  Do you bring calmness, into a turbulent situation?  If another woman asked you to accompany her to a court trial, would you reassure you by your accompanying presence?

                Help

(assistance, aid, benefit, support, service, relief, comfort, advantage, succour, good thing, reinforcement)

Are you a helper?  Are you willing to get your hands dirty?  You know what I mean…the type of woman who says yes to encourage others!  Home removals, baby-sitting, brings the washing in while having a cuppa, passes on hand-me-down clothes, mends clothes, loans money, gives a ride, supervises the mob of kids at the park, while the other Mum goes grocery shopping alone…

                Inspiration

(stimulus, spur, motivation, encouragement, muse)

Do you inspire other women around you?  Sometimes women don’t need to be told what to do…WHAT???…as if this surprises us!  We all know that we don’t really appreciate being told what to do, by other women…however it’s true that we can be encouraged by what other women around us do!  What woman have you been inspired by in your life, or who are you currently inspired by?  Sometimes, setting the example is a wonderful encouragement!

I just want to pause here for a moment, to share about a wonderfully inspiring women’s group that I know about; it’s called Heart Sisters.  Once a year, any women from the community can attend a fun, free evening, with an inspiring guest speaker, cuppas and supper, to obtain a secret ‘heart sister’!  Over the following 12 months, each woman surprises her secret heart sister with small gifts, and the reassurance that she is being thought of, and prayed for.  During the next annual evening, a part of the night is set aside for the women to reveal themselves to their heart sister, before getting a new one :)  The two women I know who started this event are very inspiring and encourage others by their efforts (this is just one community event they are involved in)!

                Cheer

(cheerfulness, optimism, merriment, joyfulness, liveliness, good spirits)

Now, you don’t need to act the clown to show good cheer for encouragement…however, it’s not very encouraging to be the sourpuss either!  I think it’s a pretty safe generalisation to say that we women like to have a laugh when we all get together…so if you find this tricky, just try to relax and maybe even have some funny remarks up your sleeve!  Sometimes, even long-time running  quips are fantastic for putting a smile on a friend’s face :)

                Praise

(admiration, commendation, approval, acclaim, tribute, applause, compliment, recommendation)

Praise?  Isn’t that just something we give kids, you may ask?  Perhaps…but do you provide it for other women?  Even some of those women, who you actually may be secretly jealous of? 

And of course, I mean sincere, genuine praise!

Because, YES, we all need it…and sometimes the women who you may think don’t really need it, actually do.  I know a woman who was very blessed with talent, and did use her talents to bless her family and others, yet behind closed doors was not given much praise and was put down by her husband!

                Boost

(improvement, increase, enhancement, lift, helping hand, pep talk)

How can we boost each other up?  Something I appreciate hugely, because I am aware of the time and thought gone into it, is a simple homemade, thoughtful, handwritten card!  It may sound trivial, but some kind words, in a pretty card are sometimes few and far between.  With texting, emails and social media, even a card in the mail can be RARE!

REMEMBER...we don't all have the same talents...but use your giftings to encourage the women around you...do it your own way!

Here's a little something to make you smile...

 

A short poem to finish…

Do you encourage, or do you grumble?

Do you speak blessing, or curses you mumble?

Can you help out, or do you shun?

Do you bring love, or reject the Son?

Do you bring cheer, or add to sorrow?

How will you be remembered, when comes tomorrow?

 

God bless, Melanie :)