Stories & Articles

Hello Reader,
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We are a few weeks away from the start of Season 10 of You Were Made for This, but I want to share an example of accidental encouragement I experienced the other day.  
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I called a friend one afternoon last week and started the conversation with “How are you doing?”
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He didn’t respond with the default answer most of us give: “Fine.”  I’ve talked before that “fine” is often an acronym for Feelings Inside Not Expressed.
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No, he told me his day started off well, but then a number of issues came up with people that were frustrating and irritating.  With a sigh of disappointment in himself he said, “I didn’t respond in a Godly manner to those people like I should have.”
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His comment did not come from a place of guilt or shame. Rather, it came from a place of I want to do better, and with God’s help I know I can.​
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What encouraged me was that I struggle with the same thing my friend struggles with. When people and circumstances irritate and frustrate me, I often do not respond in a Godly manner either. But hearing my friend sharing his “I want to do better” attitude gave me hope. Hope that with God’s help, I can do better, too.
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My friend wasn’t intending to encourage me, but he did by a brief off-the-cuff comment that revealed his desire to be more of the person God created him to be. It made me want the same for myself.
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May the same desire be true for all of us.
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Until next time, I wish you all the joy that you can wish.*
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John Certalic
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* The Merchant of Venice, Act III, scene 2