It was not my intention to flood the world with another blog post so soon, but when I awoke at 4:30 am, I knew something was bothering me. I usually don’t drag out of bed until 7 am. So I got up, made myself a cup of coffee and while it was brewing, I was keenly aware something was brewing in my soul.

I sat down to read my devotional. Hm .. still feeling unsettled. So I picked up a little book my Sis gave me for my birthday: Encouragement Changes Everything. This little book is written by one of my favorite authors, John C. Maxwell (bet you didn’t know that Toolip, did you?) Oh my! So many pearls of wisdom did I find! One day I will share some of the wonderful words John Maxwell writes in this little book, but in the meantime, should you need a small 125 page book to lift your spirits, I suggest you run right out and purchase it.

Anyway, today is Toolip and Joe’s 25th wedding anniversary so I sent her a text message of congratulations. She messaged back asking why I was up so early and I replied, “Worry, worry, worry! And even after reading my devotional and little book I was still feeling so unsettled.” She encouraged me to read today’s devotion in The Upper Room and guess what the topic was for the day? Encouragement! I’d like to quote what was written and submitted by Deepika Emmanuel Sagar of Rajasthan, India. It will lift your soul as it did mine, I promise.

“One day I received a letter that was unknown to me. As I read through it, I found it was regarding an article I wrote that was published in a Christian magazine. Handwritten and four pages long, the letter was from one of my readers. He was 93 years old and said that he appreciated my article and encouraged me to continue using my spiritual gift of writing for God’s glory. After I had gone through the letter, I wondered: Why did this stranger take so much pain, at his age, to send me a handwritten letter? Scripture says that we should encourage one another. I was encouraged by a person whom I did not even know, but he obeyed God’s word to uplift my efforts for the kingdom’s sake. I still remember a line from that handwritten letter: Encouragement is like strength to the bones. It’s a blessing to build up fellow believers through words of appreciation. Encouragement can make us zealous to yield even more fruit and can move us forward in fulfilling God’s purpose for us.”

This devotion regarding encouragement was encouraging to me. Thank you, Toolip. It also reminded me of a private Facebook message I received on my birthday, which was from a man I went to high school with. Until my class reunion a year ago, I had not seen him in forty years. And even forty years ago we weren’t more than casual acquaintances but apparently he has been following my blog. This is what he wrote to me: “Sharon – I already know you’ll have a great day (you’ll make it great yourself if need be). Here’s hoping that you will take a few minutes to reflect and realize just how blessed and how many blessings each of us have that we never seem to count. Enjoy the day. Listen to the birds, the wind blow and as the sun sets see the beauty all around (especially those around you.) Smile. By the way, your blog is excellent. Great reading!”

Wow! Just wow! Thank you Brett, thank you Tami and thank you Deepika of India! I’m off to a busy day to pay it forward! And I encourage anyone blessed by this writing to pay it forward too. You never know when you will lift someone’s spirits!