Subscription Lists
10 Minutes Peace
by Susan McGrath
The church across the street from my congregation recently had this bit of wisdom on their sign out front: "The most important vitamin for a Christian is B1".
If we are to "be one", a Christian, that is, don't we need to be giving others a boost with an encouraging word via our favorite medium (A note sent through the postal service is fine for those who are technologically challenged, or whose mothers raised them to write letter like proper ladies). I can think of several times when I have felt really low and overwhelmed by all my obligations and projects, and a note of encouragement has come from someone at just the right moment.
About a year ago, a woman in our congregation came up to me and said she really appreciated that I had written her a thank-you note, because many people don't bother to write them anymore. (My mama raised me right!) She said it had really encouraged her that morning.
I was a bit puzzled, since I couldn't remember writing anything recently. I asked her what it was about. It turned out to be a note I wrote to her almost a year before, yet that day it had appeared in her mailbox at church. We never did figure out where it had been all that time. God's ways are higher!
The way we receive encouragement at the time when we most need it should make us take notice of how God works and how much He cares for us!
The most encouraging note I think I ever received was a sympathy card when my grandfather died. The reason it meant so much was not what it said, but because of who it was from and when it was sent. The woman who sent it to me had lost her daughter in a car accident the previous year. She must have mailed my card on or very near the anniversary of her daughter's death. But rather than dwelling on her loss, she chose to bless me!
I believe God constantly provides us with opportunities to bless others -- we have to choose to make use of them and allow Christ to shine through us.
Each morning as we take our vitamins (and girls, make sure yours have iron and calcium supplements), let's ask God to show us how to "boost" and bless someone else. "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -- Luke 6:38
Rate it:
a recovering journalist trying to encourage others and glorify God through writing;
living the small-town life with husband Tim and sons Lincoln, 12, and Sawyer, 6;
completing a few put-off writing projects while using chocolate for therapy.
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "10 Minutes Peace" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.