I am standing outside my hotel room awaiting the arrival of the great king of the east.  The wind gusts make it difficult stand still, much less hold the camera steady on this 22nd floor balcony.  The sounds rising from the silent city below seem eerily dreamlike.  Like a sleeping giant stirred from a deep sleep all around me begins to wake up and vibrate with life.  Behind me the crash of the ceaseless waves can’t be ignored. 

        As I look into the eastern sky I behold its transformation.  Inky blackness yields to blue.  Suddenly the fiery rays of a new day pierce the darkness and deliver a fatal blow.  The wounded gloom must flee the approaching champion.  And just before the sun dashes out onto the great stage I squeeze the shutter of my camera and take this photo.  As I think back to that glorious morning, I can not imagine of a better way to begin a day.  All I can do is pause and praise our wonderful creator for sending us this daily miracle.  His love for us is proclaimed with each sunrise.

         He gives blessings to us so we can give glory to him.  He loves our praise.  He craves our admiration, appreciation and wonder.  And as I think about it, we are a lot like our Creator.  We too love to be appreciated and praised.  What better sound is there than to hear someone say, you did a great job?  Praise, like sunlight, helps all things to grow.  You give someone a good compliment and stand back and watch.  They begin to blossom and flourish with every kind and encouraging word.  To feel appreciated and accepted is vital to our mental well being.

        If praise is so important, why do we give it out so grudgingly?  If a compliment carries such power to encourage, why are we so stingy with our kind words?  People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be—not what you nag them to be.  I have been blessed to have had many people in my life that daily encouraged me.  My grandfather, from my earliest memories told me, you are going to college.  And guess what?  I went to college.  Today, let us wake the sleeping giant of encouragement.  Let us praise loudly and blame softly.  Happiness is a choice; choose to encourage and praise those we love.

Something to think about:

• The men who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.

• The small change of human happiness lies in the unexpected friendly word.

• We blossom under praise like flowers in sun and dew; we open, we reach, we grow.

• We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.

• Tell a man he is brave, and you help him to become so.

• It’s so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

• How many people stop because so few say, “Go!”

Thankful for my encouragers
Rickey Moore