I’m taking a survey. I’m wondering what things encourage you?
What lifts you when you’re down?
What gives you courage to face the unfaceable?
How do you find strength to do the impossible?
What gets you off the bench of self-pity and back into the game of life?
What is the adrenalin for your soul? A word spoken by a real friend, a helping hand when your two aren’t enough?
Do you prefer a note, letter, email, or phone call from a friend?
Does God ever encourage you? How?
When you’ve “drawn the blinds” to your world, put your phone on silent, and placed yourself on the island of Me-Only, what brings you back to the land called Life?
How do you tell the difference between pity and encouragement?
When you find yourself stumbling through the valley of the shadow of death, what gets you through?
We may think we’ve encouraged someone (we feel good), but may have totally missed the mark. So this question isn’t “how do you encourage others?”
No, the question is…
What encourages YOU?
Thanks for replying!
Jan Grace 
6 responses to “What Encourages YOU?”
I’m encouraged by the Word! Not just a verse, but when I’m digging for something and God just kinda smacks me in the face with an answer to a question, or a solution to a problem. Straight shots just from him. That is encouragement!
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Great! “Where never is heard, a discouraging word…”
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I like all those things that you mentioned but, for me, when I really need challenged, encouraged, uplifted and strengthened I go to the biography section of my library. There I find real people with real struggles who found ways to overcome obstacles and impact the world they lived in. This started for me in junior high when I first read “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” Biographies remind me that the human spirit, empowered by the Spirit of God, is capable of much more than what the average person experiences. On my bookshelf I find my encouragers, my mentors…and my friends. When I am finding myself pulled downward I turn to them for that provocation to get back in the game.
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Very good! Thanks.
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I believe the more convinced I am that I matter to God and to others, the more alive and motivated I become. Sometimes I can struggle with that, but emails from friends, God’s word (in its various forms), thoughtful actions from others, or my own personal pep talks, can encourage my thoughts and moods. Observing others’ zeal (for whatever) can be extremely motivating for me. Also, a chunk of chocolate, a Starbucks latte, and a funny movie can have a positive effect on me as well!
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Thanks.
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