There’s a few things we all can agree on that we need in life. Water. Food. Shelter. Coffee. Chocolate. Tea. More coffee…

 

And Friends.

 

We need people. We need friends to keep us company. We need others to laugh at our jokes, or our failed attempts at creating them. We need people to cry with us when we hurt. We need affirmations,  especially when the going gets tough. We need to be encouraged that we will survive the hard times, and remember to encourage others when they face them as well. No matter how awful the picture looks, we will make it through this dilemma. Even if it is something major, like running out of coffee.

 

That being said, today was a day I’ll admit I needed to have a pick me up. I needed some encouragement. I needed a friend. And being completely honest in this moment, I’ll admit I’m not one to reach out and say I need anything. Except caffeine. I will readily admit deficiencies in that department. In any other aspect of life though, I have this stubborn instinct that keeps me desiring to be constantly self-reliant. Pride, maybe? Perhaps. But I really think it’s mostly stubbornness.

 

It’s not always a bad thing, being strong-willed. It’s a driving force for me getting things done, like getting toothpaste off of whatever surface my boys smeared it on. Being headstrong makes me want to not fail, but succeed. To persist and get it done, like keeping this site somewhat updated. And keeping my site updated is what led me to the encouraging words I needed today. As I was moderating my site, I saw there were several comments unpublished after my last post;

 

“I’d like to spend a moment to thank you for this.”

“I’m impressed by your writing. Are you a professional or just very knowledgeable?”

“Please keep throwing these posts up, they help tons.”

“This has made my day.”

 

To think, all of these posts arrived after I wrote about manure. Good ol’ manure! I was delighted  by the content of these comments. And then I promptly proceeded to discard them.

 

See, all of those comments were actually spam, which I found it quite entertaining and a bit enlightening. Convicting even. It really made me think about life and how we live it. How often do we go through our day not giving someone a thumbs-up, a high-five or just saying your basic, “Good job!” for something? How often do we forget a simple, “Thank you”? How often do we withhold giving words of encouragement, either for a job well done or for a tough time faced? And why? Because there will be spammers to say it for us? Because we’re afraid we will say the wrong thing? Because someone else will be able to say something better? Because…

 

I’m guilty.

 

But I don’t want to continue down that path. It’s not what I’m supposed to do in life. Or any of us. The Bible even mentions encouragement, and instructs us to be encouragers. Specifically, in Thessalonians, it tells us to “…encourage one another and build each other up…”

 

So does this imply that if we’re not helping build others up, we’re actually letting them crumble? And if we’re not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable with our needs, we’re deciding our own demise?

 

Honestly, it’s not something I want to contemplate. It’s not comforting to see my shortcomings. None of us enjoy that. But if we don’t pinpoint our weaknesses, we will never overcome them. My biggest weakness has always been asking for help. And it will probably continue to be for some time. But I’m going to take small steps at overcoming this issue, and I’m going to start now.

 

I need some serious help today. Someone (not me) scorched something in a pot and I can hardly make any progress removing the blackened residue. Wanna come do my dishes?

 

Does encouragement come easily to you? Do you need to be encouraged? You really don’t mind doing my dishes?