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You Need Encouragement Again?

You Need Encouragement Again?  -christyfitzwater.com

There’s this feature on my website that gives me either a red, yellow, or green light, to indicate if Google likes me and is going to send people to my site.

If I get a red light, the application gives me a list of what I could improve.

Sometimes it politely tells me I’ve used the same word too many times in previous blog titles and suggests I try something new.

Google has had enough with the word “encouragement”.

But I’m like, Seriously, Google?

I keep using this word, because I have calculated that the amount of times we need encouragement in order to live is:

Approximately 437,639,427 times per rotation of the planet around the sun.

Like the other morning when I was going to exercise but didn’t ’cause I didn’t wanna. Except I did want to because I know this body needs oxygen and strength. So on the way to school I begged the Lord to somehow encourage me to go for a walk after school in the sunshine.

The last thing I did at the end of my school day was open to a beginning Spanish reader, to prepare a chapter for the next day.

It was a reading about two guys going to the gym, and one of them says he needs to exercise because everyone says he’s gordo (fat). He says his weight shows high on the scales because he’s fully clothed, and his friend says his clothes must way 60 pounds.

Go figure.

So when I got home from school, I put on my coat and earmuffs and went for a walk.

Jesus says to his disciples:

“It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”  (John 16:7 NIV)

The counselor. The advocate. The helper.

To send a helper is to imply future situations in our lives that will require aid.

Jesus pretty much said, I am going to hurl you into the deep. Life is going to seem impossible. You’re going to feel like you can’t breathe. But I’m also sending 24/7 help. Ask for it. 

My daughter came across this quote on Tumblr that encouraged her:

Whenever you’re in a situation where you need motivation just whisper “give ‘em the old razzle dazzle” to yourself and proceed to give ‘em the old razzle dazzle. #tiny jazz hands behind your back if the situation gets real.

Words bolster our spirits.

One time I looked up every mention of “Holy Spirit” in the entire Bible, and do you know almost every single time the Spirit of Christ shows up there are words. Words of prophecy. Words of truth. Words of encouragement.

God sends words, like jazz hands behind your back.

Words from a friend. Words from a preacher. Words in a song. Words from a crazy blog lady. Words from a reader (you have no idea how your comments and emails keep me going!) Words in a Spanish reader. Most often words from Scripture that come alive in memory just when we need them.

Because God doesn’t want us to drown. He wants us to live big, satisfied, meaningful lives.

What we’re lacking is the habit to ask for encouragement when we feel like we’re going under. That’s all we have to do. Ask for encouragement.

Lord, I need a word from you. Something to keep me going.

So encouragement goes into the title yet again, and Google is going to have to get over itself.

4 Comments

  1. You are an excellent writer! You have a beautiful spirit! You have a great sense of humor! You have an amazing husband and children! You are a good cook! You have the gift of listening! Your blog brings application to our lives! Your stories touch our hearts! You know how to encourage! It’s evident you spend time in God’s word! You’re not afraid to admit you’re overwhelmed or stressed and then turn it in it something positive and call it by another name! You love to laugh! You can speak Spanish and I cannot! You have a heart for missions! YOU ARE A GOOD PERSON! You have a rich inheritance in Christ Jesus! You are loved, you are loved, you are loved!
    Come on dear friends of Christy’s blog, let’s put out our jazz hands and share some encouragement!

  2. Cheryl Wood says:

    Thanks for the encouragement!

  3. thank you, all I can say today is your message is spot on and your words encouraged me in many ways this morning. THANK YOU!!! Keep on writing! And google…. they might need some encouragement to change their program a little so it recognizes that repetition is the best way to imprint on our memory what is important! 🙂 Have a great weekend.

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