Leadership Thought: It Only Takes a Minute but It Will Change Two Lives.

Dear Friends,

There is nothing like encouragement to lift your spirits and thrill your soul. Encouragement is like honey, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones-rough paraphrase of a one of Solomon’s proverbs (Proverbs 16:24).

Yesterday I came home from a weekly  breakfast I enjoy with a couple of my friends, and during our time together one of my friends shared with me how he had remembered an encouraging phone call of mine that happened over twenty years ago, a phone call I had long forgotten.

When I later arrived home to check my e-mail, I had the pleasure of reading a beautiful e-mail message filled with encouragement from a friend who was a part of a church I served over thirty years ago. She was responding to an e-mail I had recently sent on the power of a personal hug.

Later that day I received a opened a bright handwritten envelope which I quickly opened only to find a card inside dripping  with words of encouragement and thankfulness.

I hit the encouragement trifecta!

I can’t tell how much those breakfast words, that e-mail “hug” and that bright shining letter meant to me.

Each one of them came from a dear friend whose treasured friendship has impacted my life.

Yes, kind words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Once again, I was reminded of the power of encouragement to lift one’s spirits.

I have an old Bible that has now become the repository of notes I have received from friends over the years. Every once in a while, I will open up that bible, pull out a few of those letters, and quietly give thanks for those who have taken the time to write or type them.

In his book The Power of Encouragement, Pastor David Jeremiah writes, “Written encouragement comes directly from the heart, uninterrupted and uninhibited. That’s why it’s so powerful.”  Haven’t we all known that to be true?

Mother Teresa said, “Kind words are short and easy to speak (or write) but their echoes are endless.” Yes, such words of encouragement  are seldom forgotten.

Is there someone who needs to hear some “echoes” of  encouragement today? Why not take a few minutes to jot them a note, send them an e-mail, or better yet pick up the phone and give them some words that come straight from your lips that will go straight to their heart.

You will make two people happy: you will experience the joy of knowing you are making a difference in someone’s life, and your recipient will in turn be thankful you cared enough to remember them.

Get writing or get calling!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom