Jack of all trades, master of none...

I often get the feeling I am a "Jack of all trades". I dabble (or have in the past) in many different areas artistically (painting, sketching, some clay sculpture, pottery, jewelry making, weaving, photography, crafting also- especially crochet, cross stitching, sewing, stamping), professionally (teacher currently, have been a tech writer, corporate consultant, done sales, even a public speaker), and in my private life (wife, mom, homemaker but far from a domestic goddess). I have gobs of interests that are pretty odd (kids gear and information about various special needs in kids). Problem is that I have so many interests, such a patchwork of dabbling and in reality so little time, I find myself lagging in some of these areas more than others. Makes me wonder what I will finally choose to be when I grow up, especially when some of the things are less realistic the older I get. I feel at times a bit like alphabet soup...you never know what letters you'll get today and if they will make a word or not!

Below: Some of my dabbling...
Aprica stroller (Kid gear) with Veggie Tale Storage Sack (Sewing)

Peacefulness- The Calm Returns After the Storm (Photography)

Operation Encouragement...

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

When I wake up in the morning, it often seems to be on the wrong side of the bed. Usually it begins by upsetting my husband as I hit snooze for the umpteenth time. I finally roll out of bed to yell at the kids to get up for school. The arguing begins as we figure out clothes (I thought they said they had them out before bed), get breakfast (there is never anything everybody likes), brush teeth (but we all did it before bed), and get out the door (trust me kids, I'd rather be in bed asleep still too and no I didn't remember to make our lunches). Then we move on to the next phase of the day, the ride to school. It starts looking up when we wish Grandma a good morning and find out if she has run later than our craziness has. Arrival at school just seems to mean fighting siblings, a majorly stressed out mama, and a day ready to start sooner than we are! Often my coworkers are just as tired and downtrodden as they arrive. Not a very nice way to start the day. I mean it is not a start to the day that has been wrought with any encouragement!

So let's look more closely at this. Encourage (the root of encouragement) is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as 1. to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : to hearten encouraged to continue by her early success> b : to attempt to persuade : to urge encouraged him to go back to school>

2. to spur on : to stimulate encourages plant growth>

3. to give help or patronage to : to foster encourage conservation>

Encourage is an action verb. Encourager is a noun, the person who is doing the encouraging. Encouragement is the act itself of encouraging. We are called [in 1 Thessalonians 5:11] to encourage others, therefore to be an encourager completing acts of encouragement toward each other. So it specifies an action (encourage/build up) and it specifies a recipient. The recipient is "each other." This means your neighbor, your friend, your loved ones, your fellow Christians. It does not exclude, rather has open arms.

I realized though that often we encourage many. We reach out to other countries, we reach out to the lame and the lost, we reach out to so many in physical need. We forget about the spiritual needs we have. We burn out as we spread ourselves thinner and thinner winning souls for Him and in the midst we loose the souls we already have. We become burdened and heavy laden. We feel alone. We feel unappreciated. We feel unloved. We treat those closest to us in the least encouraging manner of all!

When I tried to think more about my morning I realized something important. At some point in the morning a change happens, a ray of sunshine [or Son-shine] shines through, the encouragement begins. This turn around often happens for me as the staff meet for devotions together- burying our hearts for a few moments in His Word, prayerfully turning all our troubles over to Him and hitting the restart button on our day. I have begun to feel a great desire to share that feeling of care through word and prayer with others. That is how during this past week Operation Encouragement began. It is the effort to reach out to those around me. It is the effort to feed the souls of those who also working to share the good news of Christ's gift of salvation!

I will update more about the efforts of Operation Encouragement in my life soon. In the meantime, how can you implement acts of encouragement in your own life?

Reflection:
What is your attitude?
How can you work to provide encouragement and to build each other up?

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25