Everyone needs encouragement

I have the privilege of pastoring the greatest group of people on the planet.  I love how they desire to grow and it’s amazing to see how they take care of people in need. 

With that being said we have a group of people at the church that are fitness nuts.  These people have roped me into all kinds of races.  Now these races aren’t just your average 5k, these are obstacle course races where climb over walls, crawl through mud etc…  I have enjoyed it and it has given me a sense of accomplishment. 

In January some of them started talking about doing a Tough Mudder.  Now the Tough Mudder is the mother of all obstacle course races 13 miles, over walls, through dark tunnels, over fire, and to top it off you might get shocked.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?  Yeah not to me either but I had a moment of weakness and decided I was in.

It didn’t seem that intimating back in January but now it is in 2 weeks, now it’s very intimidating.  For the last month I have been trying to figure out a way to get out of this race.  As of yesterday morning I had another event I could say I had to be at and I wasn’t going to go.  That is until I received a text message from a friend at about 10:00 PM.

Sundays are long days for me and I had just crawled into bed when I heard my phone beep.  I looked over at my phone and this is what it said “Two weeks to the tough mudder! I will be with you every step of the way!”  It’s amazing how your perspective changes when someone says I will do this with you it’s going to be ok. 

In two weeks I am doing the Tough Mudder.  I might be preaching from a stool the next day because I can’t walk but I will finish the race.

Encouragement means more to people then we will ever know.  It can give someone the strength to push on when they want to quite.  It can change the way someone feels, what they think, and what they do.  Today look for someone to encourage, look for a way to lift someone’s spirits, you never know what kind of effect you might have on their life.