When I Take Over My World: The 'E' Word

One of my favorite blogs to read is Faith Barista. This is a Christian faith based blog with interesting insights from Bonnie, the writer of the blog. One of Bonnie's beliefs is that there is no greater ministry than what we do and show others in our day to day life. And being a lover of all things coffee related, the coffee references don't hurt, either.

Every Thursday at Faith Barista, Bonnie offers up a topic and encourages her readers to post their blog on that subject. This week's subject is, 'What is the one area you'd like a refill of encouragement?' The example she gives are work, parenting, faith, etc.

I have pondered over this topic since last Thursday. I have written down words, I have deleted words and I have written down the words all over again. I have copied, I have pasted and I have copied and pasted over again to where I have one wordy blog, but one that doesn't say what is really on my heart.

What it comes down to for me (for you, Dog) is that I refuse to physically put the words on 'paper' for my nine followers and the rest of the world to see that there is actually an area - or areas - of my life where I need a dose of encouragement from someone else.

Oh, I could probably say usual things and accepted things, like asking for encouragement to eat better, to exercise more, to get more done during the day, to keep the house tidier and more organized.

But those are very generic things. Things that I could, if I needed to or wanted to, ask someone to offer up encouragement and there is no real reflection or judgement on me. Because doesn't everyone want to eat better, exercise more and keep the house tidier and more organized?

For one thing, getting more specific in the private areas of my life shows a weakness to the person that I am asking encouragement of.

For the other thing, by actually saying the words out loud, I have opened myself up to accountability to that someone. For instance, supposed I were to ask for encouragement to go to church on Sundays, or to remove morsels of sweet goodness from my diet.

Now, I am not saying that I want to want to go to church on Sunday, or that I want to want to remove cookies from my life. I am just saying that if I said this out loud to a person, I would then have to confess, in truth when asked, how I am doing in the church / cookie area of my life.

I wonder if I would ever be ready for that kind of accountability

Now, you ask me for encouragement for anything and I am there for you (for me, Dog). I will become your greatest cheerleader, offering up stupendous advice, a shoulder to lean on and tissues to dry your tears.

Don't you just love the word 'stupendous'? Here is a word has all the earmarks of an ugly word, having the unfortunate start of sounding like being in the 'stupid' category. The actual definition really means 'amazing, astounding, astonishing, extraordinary, remarkable, phenomenal, staggering, breathtaking, fantastic, mind-boggling, awesome, and wondrous.

And like a light bulb coming on inside my heart, the answer to Bonnie's question is ...