Happy National Day of Encouragement

I am so excied for today because it is National Day of Encouragement!

Do you need some encouragement today or do you know of someone in need of encouragement?

Encourage:
The action of giving someone support, confidence or hope.

Life is hard,  we need each other. We all experience times when we are feeling down, in the dumps, the blues, in a rut, or going through something beyond our control. We need support, confidence and hope to keep going.

I believe Encouragment is threefolded. First, It is very important to discover ways to encourage ourselves.  To be our own best friend. Second,  we also need to be open to receive encouragement from the people around us. To allow the Lord to work through others to help us. If we refuse the help we may be refusing a big blessing from God. Lastly, we need to extend encouragement to loved ones and those in our community. There is a joy that comes to us when we give support and hope to others.

The word Encouragement has been an inspiration to me and in recent years has become one of my life long goals. I have a deep desire in my heart to be an encourager.  To find encouragement in this life and to extend it to others. I want to continue to learn ways to " build each other up."  

Hiding behind smiles and replying with "good" after being asked "How are you?" But you are hurting. You are living with pain. You are living with physical pain. You are living with emotional pain. I have known both and I have felt discouragemet.

I started reading and really digging into God's word when I was 18 years old.  I learned about His love for me and the promises He has for my life. The Bible is full of encouraging promises. This hope changed the way I felt about myself, the future and how I saw the world around me.

Where do you find Encouragement?

Who has been a big encouragement in your life and how did they encourage you?
What is your biggest obstacle when it comes to finding Encouragement?

Ways to encourage ourselves:
1. Pray and ask for wisdom and Encouragement from the Lord.
2. Read the Lord's promises for our life and who you are in Him.
3. Journal your thoughts, desires and goals.
4. Do something for someone else.
5. Read motivational quotes.
6. Listen to music.
7. Eat good food.
8. Exercise.
9. Keep a good sense of humor.
10. Ask for help.

Practical ways we can encourage others through support, confidence and hope:

1. Ask someone to coffee to talk.
2. Send a letter or card with words of hope.
3. Pick/buy a bouquet of flowers and attach a card with encouragement.
4. Pray for someone in the moment. It is encouraging to hear a prayer!
5. Give a handmade gift made by you.
6. Leave notes around the home for your loved ones.
7. Send a short note on facebook or text a friend with a few encouraging words.
8. Put together a care package
9. Bake goodies for someone and attach a little uplifting note.
10. Speak affirmations, and postive words to an individual to build confidence.
11. Compile a playlist of encouraging music to send to someone.


Ways we can accept Encouragement from others:

1. Pray and ask God to send you Encouragement
2. Reach out to others.
2. Find a place in your Community.
3. Ask for help
4. Ask for prayer.
5. Ask a friend to go out for Coffee or tea.


What are other ways that bring encouragement to you? What are other things we can do to encourage others? Please comment with your ideas, I would love to hear them.

We can all be an Encourager. It is really about the little things of life. Taking the time to listen to others and see a need. We can extend support. We can extend Confidence. We can extend hope. 

Join the Community of Encouragement by liking and following our page at:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/communityofencouragement/about/

Prayers❤

-Amber

Encouragement. (2017) Dictionary. Retrieved from Google.