National Day of Encouragement

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Have you ever had a bad day that seems as if everyone is having a bad day too? I call it a “blah day”, where conversations are dazed, no one is smiling, class is depressing, and life is dull. I hate those days and I’m glad today was NOT one of them. I knew the National Day of Encouraging was successful when I walked into the students center and there was this invisible happy cloud floating around. Although many took it to the extreme (and some even to sarcasm) – it was effective. Nice words filled the halls, strangers were smiling at each other as if they were best friends, and there we’re bright balloons everywhere. (There has to be some statistic on how balloons boost morale!) I thought after a while I would get tired of it and that it would soon near the edge of cheesey and annoying, but it wasn’t. It was contagious.

I’ve tried my best to live many days with an attitude of encouragement but I was often met by pathetic attempts to reciprocate my cheerful disposition. Some people we’re great at it, other’s needed work, and some seemed incapable of kind words. The truth is, the practice of encouragement is underated in all of our lives today. Even the word “encourage” relates so many meanings:

uplift, give confidence, develop, give support, give advice, embolden, instigate, spur on, cheer, inspire, motivate, stir up, fire up, stimulate, invigorate, vitalize, revitalize, fortify, rally

And those are the things God calls us to be for each other in our pursuit of Him, the fight against worldy temptations, and the work to further His kingdom. Would we more readily share the gospel if we knew people were backing us up? Would we help more? Would we be more compassionate and tuned into the needs of those around us?

We might have been as close to living in perfect harmony as I’ve ever seen. I wondered if God was giving me a glimpse of what heaven is like as I stood back and watched people. I hope so!

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

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