Be A Barnabas Project (Part 3)

Here’s how things are going to go over the next several weeks. I’ll include a “Snapshot of an Encourager” and 10 More Ways To Be An Encourager until we reach 100 Ways To Be An Encourager.

Snapshot of An Encourager:

The Encouraging Spouse

As I was doing research on this “Be A Barnabas Project,” I noticed a recurring theme.

So many of the respondents said that their number one supporter was their spouse and they had a hard time putting into words what that meant to them.

One respondent said, “My biggest encourager is (my wife). In all of the years she has not failed to express her admiration for me when it was earned. And probably even more times when it was not.”

Another person said their spouse was “like a rock to me. She didn’t have to say or do anything. I just knew” that she supported me.

It’s clear that a spouse’s support is invaluable.

I know it means the world to me to have a wife who is my biggest cheerleader. I can have the world against me but if my wife expresses her belief in me, it’s enough to keep me going.

I grew up in a dysfunctional home where I didn’t see that modeled. My Dad had a hard life growing up and had a chip on his shoulder and took a lot of that out on my Mom in the way of verbal abuse. My Mom shielded us from it and did her best to provide a Christ-like example. But I can only imagine the burden she carried.

I knew I wanted something more in a marriage and vowed at the age of 17 to be the best husband and father I could be. I have failed at that goal more times than I can count, but the great gift of my life was to marry a woman who believed in me and expressed it in a thousand different ways. She has supported me through the good, the bad and the ugly.

Just this week she left a note in my car expressing her belief in me and letting me know that she sees how hard I’m working.

Also, I had recently written a devotional about mentors and I included my Mount Rushmore of mentors in it. Unbeknownst to me, she sent it to a couple of the people I had mentioned and then shared the sweet messages that they had sent in response in a text to me, while adding a note recognizing how hard I’ve been working at this ministry. Tears were streaming down my face as I read those notes from my mentors and her sweet text. I can’t tell you how encouraging that was to me!

The last 20 months since we moved to Georgia have been filled with obstacles and challenges, and there have been days where I have had little to give and felt like I was at the end of my rope. But my wife’s constant support and encouragement has been a sustaining force that keeps me going.

There’s a great scene in the movie The Natural where naturally gifted baseball player Roy Hobbs is in the twilight of his career. His body is broken down from some poor life choices and he’s been struggling to recapture his old form. He’s at the plate and on the verge of striking out again when his old love interest Iris suddenly stands for him in the crowd. Hobbs sees her gesture out of the corner of his eye and - suddenly buoyed by her support- launches a towering home run that crashes through the old clock on the scoreboard. It’s a scene that any man will understand. There is nothing that fuels us more than when our better half stands for us and expresses their belief in us. It is literally fuel for our souls.

I’m grateful to be married to a wife who stands for me in a multitude of ways.

10 More Ways To Be An Encourager:

(21-30)

21. Offer free babysitting to a young couple with young children so they can go out on a date.

22. Let a young Mom know that she is doing a great job with her kids.

23. Give a gift to a friend just because.

24. Share with the Pastor something you remember him teaching on that made an impact on your life.

25. Be the “candy person” at church - always carry around gum, suckers or mints for children.

26. When someone is new at church, invite them to sit with your crew and make them feel welcome.

27. Go to a game or activity of a child in your circle of friends.

28. Let children and teens in your circle of friends know that they are seen and valued.

29. Invite a new neighbor or church member over to dinner.

30. If at all possible, be at all the games and special events of your children (your support means everything to them).