Do you remember the last time you were encouraged? Or at least, one word of encouragement which had a profound affect on your life? Most of us, if we trace things back, will probably find somewhere there was one word spoken over you which changed the course of your life.

For me, it was when my Dad was writing a Scout newsletter, to several hundred people. I was 12 years old at the time, barely into secondary school.

My Dad asked me to check the spelling and grammar of his newsletter.

This was quite an act of humility. Dad admitting writing wasn’t his principal gift, but more than this, demonstrating to me he had confidence in my writing ability.

And each month, when he wrote the newsletter, he asked my help.

Is it any wonder I fell in love with writing? And is it really coincidence it’s when I write I feel the most confident?

Of course not.

And there are moments like this for many of us.  When somebody asked us to help them with something. Or told us how great our work was in one particular area. Or gave us an opportunity to do use a talent or gift.

But many of us struggle to remember when we were last encouraged. It’s not a habit many people cultivate.

There is a growing lack of encouragement in the world. And this cannot go on.

Today, I launch a manifesto for this change.

A call to action for us to become people of encouragement. To show how in 5 small steps, we can change the world.

Because one word of encouragement can be like a stone thrown in still water. It creates ripples, which have a positive impact on the lives of others. A domino affect which can genuienly change the world.

If all of us encourage one another, the world will be a brighter place. And more of us will become the people we were created to be.

In ‘5 Steps to Encouragement: A Manifesto for Changing the World” I outline how this process can happen in (more…)

Today I’m delighted to welcome back my good friend and great writer Wendy van Eyck as a guest poster, sharing a personal story on a theme close to my heart, encouragement. Wendy is a writer and communicator from South Africa, and also guest posted for me last year.

I have written for her blog ilovedevotionals.com, which I would recommend to all of you. There’s more info about Wendy below, in the meantime, here’s her post: 

When I was in my teens I got into the habit of using a lot of mean words.

They were my weapons against a world that I didn’t think accepted me or liked me. My main target for this was my younger brother.

I loved to call my brother stupid.

Not the meanest word out there. But words don’t have to be in order to hurt and break and damage another persons soul.

I would call my brother stupid at any (more…)

We’re often called to take risks in life. To put ourselves out there.

To jump.

Problem is, it’s usually easier to run away from something than take a risk and go for it. And often we do run away.

But there’s always a cost to running away.

In the movie ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Bruce Wayne is trapped in an underground prison. The only escape is to climb up a tall hole and get out. The only problem? To get out he must leap from one part of the wall to the other. If he fails the leap, he cannot get out, and falls.

At first he doesn’t get out. He has a rope to catch him if he falls, so the jump is relatively safe. He’s not risking anything.

He gets told, by a fellow prisoner, the only way to make the jump, the only way he can truly escape the prison,

is by jumping without a rope.

By risking his life.

So he makes the jump again. Without the rope.  And what happens?
(more…)

I’m a great believer in the power of encouragement. Ever since I was young, I’ve cultivated a habit of encouraging others in their gifts.Complimenting people on great work and speaking truth into their lives.

When I was younger, especially during my teenage years, I wasn’t encouraged so much. The difficulties going on in my family at the time tended to mean I didn’t get much encouragement, and this was compounded by the bullying I received at school. There were a few people who encouraged me, and when they did, I felt invincible. I felt I could do anything.

But those moments were all too few.

So I resolved back then I would encourage people. I decided I would be a force for encouragement in the world. No one I knew would ever have to deal with what I had dealt with.

The funny thing about my teenage years is there was one gift, one talent, which I was encouraged in by everyone. Teachers, parents and even friends.

Can you guess what it was?

Writing.

Now, writing is one of my biggest joys, my greatest gifts and has become a vocation, a calling.

Is it any coincidence the gift most encouraged in me, was the gift which has (more…)

In the last month I became aware of the #OneWord initiative – a community of people from all over the world who commit to making one word their ‘word for their year’. Several bloggers I know have adopted this idea.

The concept is to have a word which sums up your values, desires and aspirations for the year ahead. A word which will draw all things together, and will provide you with focus for growth. So as I entered this new year, I decided I would make this commitment.

But what word would it be?

There was one crying out to me. And the fear it triggered in me convinced me it was the right word.

The word is professional.

And when I say professional, I’m not just talking about my job. Or writing. I’m talking about my life.

For a long time, I behaved like an amateur. I made easy choices instead of the right (more…)

Have you ever thought “If I Tweet/say/share what I really think, I’ll be exposed & everyone will lose respect for me”?

I have.

There can be so much pain buried deep within our souls.

One night recently I was interacting with some friends. And I began to get the impression they all knew something I didn’t. All had access to a resource I didn’t. I’d requested it too, but didn’t have it.

It wasn’t a big deal. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem. But it snared one of my deepest insecurities.

The fear of being excluded. Left behind.

I’ve never been part of the ‘in’ crowd anywhere. At school this meant being left out, always last to be picked.

And in this moment, it felt like God was leaving me last (more…)

In the last week or so  I’ve shared the 6 lessons I learned from 2012, and moved into why we need to set values not goals for 2013. Today I want to look at learning to trust God with the outcome.

As I’ve looked back over the past 12 months I am amazed at what has transpired. In some ways it happened because I was intentional – yet none of it happened the way I imagined and the results were nothing like I would have predicted.

Such is the nature of life.

We can scheme and plot all we like. We can be as intentional as it’s possible to be.

But if we want to grow, we must also learn to surrender the outcome.

Much of the stress of our lives comes when we try to control the (more…)

I wrote in my last post about my lessons from 2012 I’ll be taking into 2013, and in the next few weeks I’ll be blogging about some of them in more detail. Beginning today  - with the importance of values over goals.

How often have you read about goal-setting?

It’s a phrase you hear more and more in today’s culture – especially during the New Year period. I’ve recently heard it several times from friends.

I’m sure ‘goal-setting’ works for some people. But for me, all it represents is another opportunity for disappointment. In the past I set goals with the best of intentions, and (more…)

As you may have noticed, it’s nearly Christmas. We are all out there, buying presents for one another. Getting excited by the upcoming festivities. Many of us are full of joy at the anticipation of the celebration of Jesus coming.

I spoke to my sister recently about presents, discussing what each of us wanted for Christmas and our plans for the day. She mentioned to me how excited I got about presents, and how in the past – once in particular, when we didn’t open presents till 9pm (yes, really) – I have moaned about when we are going to open presents.

Initially I dismissed it and smiled. But as I reflected on the comment the smile faded.

I looked at myself, and realised I took more pleasure out of receiving than giving.

And I felt a deep sense of (more…)