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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Encouraging Words Wednesday

Photobucket“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Have you ever wanted to silence the voices of your fears? In my Encouragement for Today devotion at Proverbs 31 Ministries, I shared how I learned to do just that by helping someone else overcome theirs. Before I knew it, I had faced my fear of open heights because I wanted to help a friend’s child conquer his. And that day, I conquered mine, too.

Without even realizing it, I acted on God’s command and believed God’s promise in Joshua 1:9 that tells me I can overcome my fears with God’s strength. I realized in a very tangible way that the same promises I claim so boldly for others are true for me, too.

Like God did with Joshua in today’s verse, each day we have the same opportunity to come alongside each other in some of life’s hardest challenges and highest peaks and say, “Don’t give up, you can do it. I’ll be with you and I will help you.”

Today is Encouraging Words Wednesday. The second Wednesday of each month we gather here for encouragement and commit to share the power of encouragement with someone in our lives. In believing the power of God’s promises for others, our confidence in His promises for us seems to grow as well. I like to call it the “encouraging words” boomerang effect.

Encouraging words have the power and potential to bring courage to the discouraged. Hope to the hopeless. Assurance to the insecure. Clarity to the confused. Strength to the weak. Calm to someone’s chaos. Comfort for someone’s sadness.

Encouraging words say, “I notice and I care enough to take this moment to tell you because you matter to me and you matter to God.”

So, today let’s shift our focus off our fears, doubts, insecurities and personal struggles and help someone overcome theirs. All we have to do is look for someone who could use a kind word, a boost of confidence, a note with a Bible verse or a short prayer in it. Even just a simple facebook post or email saying what we really appreciate about them, or how you see God’s heart in something they do will make such an impact!

Join me and let’s watch to see the difference this will make in our families, neighborhoods, work places and churches.

Lord, thank You for the power of Your words that give me courage to become who You’ve created me to be – to go to places You’re calling me to go and climb spiritual heights that are out of my reach without Your help. Give me Your encouragement and help me encourage someone else today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Encouraging Words Wednesday Gift PackHis Princess: Love Letters from Your King
by Sheri Rose Shepherd (This is one of the most encouraging books ever!)

The Power of a Purpose Driven (and Encouraging) Mom
message on CD by Renee Swope (What a difference you can make!)

20 of God’s Promises to personalize and send to a friend
(Nothing is more powerful than God’s promises!)

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To enter to win
simply share some encouragement and let me know about it.
Click on the word “comments” below this post and type in the white box:

  1. Commit to it- List one person you’re going to encourage today or this week and how you’re going to do it.
  2. Share it – Share a link to this post with friends via Facebook. Just lick on my Facebook badge in my sidebar. Then click on “share” under my EncWds button on my FB page. You can also Tweet and/or email a friend a link and let me know. 
  3. Spread it – Forward today’s devotion to someone who has been an encouragement in your life, and thank them. It will really mean a lot to them!For an extra chance to win, add our Encouraging Words Wednesday button to your blog with a link to today’s post, then come back and let me know in another comment. You can grab the code from my sidebar under the button.
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Winners announced Monday – want to be notified ?
If you’d like to be updated when I post or notified when I announce the winner, additional give-aways or find out early about special promotions, enter your email in the white box in my sidebar (right under the P31 logo). I will not share your email with anyone. Promise.

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Comments

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  7. Renee, your message touched a sensitive, private and painful spot in my mind and heart. I also am constantly comparing myself to other mothers, asking why they seem to have everything in control and handle things with such ease and precision. I truly want to be a God's word driven family and have tried on so many occasions to start this daily practice only to be met with attitude or eye rolls. When I've reached my fill of trying to divert these reaction I usually say to myself "FORGET IT", if they don't care then why should I?
    I know this is not how God wants me to handle this but sometimes the frustration is more than I can handle. My roll as a mom is to nurture, love, discipline, be a good example, role model and I am just not that good at it. Or I might be, but am being too hard on myself. Whatever the case, when I read your thoughts on Andrew Carnagie, I realized that I too am looking to closely at the faults instead of the virtues.
    I like this perspective of digging deeper and seeing my daughter for who she is rather that wondering why she isn't acting the way I think she should be. I also like the golden nugget idea. Perhaps allowing her to make the right decision instead of constantly trying to drive the point home will be a better approach.
    Renee, I woke up today in my usual overwhelmed funk but after reading your message, I feel better, maybe even a little less overwhelmed with a new perspective. Thank you for your words of encouragement.

  8. I woiuld love to win the Confident Heart Friendship gift pack. I would share with my cousin who is my best friend and sister in Christ. We walk together and talk together, I love her!

  9. I am a military wife to two girls ages 4 and 2 with another on the way due in Nov. I find your stories so encouraging for me especially as I journey through mommyhood most days on my own because my husband is deployed. If I won, I would love the GoBible Voyager and I would have to be selfish this year and keep the gift for me for mothers day!!! There are days that I want to quit and give my husband my pink slip at the end of the day, but I can't. There is no one else when he is gone and my girls need a spiritually filled mom!! Thanks for reading and Happy Mother's Day to you!
    [email protected]

  10. This is Stacey Cortes again I have wrote two long blogs with my situation and they have not posted, so i will give a short version. My aunt is 51 and diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that had mestasis her brain on March 3 2011. At first she was given 9 mo then she had 4 radiation treatments and they told her that it wasn't working and gave her a couple of weeks. That was on March 9. My pastor meet with her and my uncle in the hospital and shared the gospel for about an hour. Every chance i get i try to share some verses with her. I will share todays verse with her also. I drive 120 miles round trip to take care of her everyday. I have my CNA license so she feel very comfortable with me there. In this situtation alot of people have become closer in their relationship with God, including myself. God is so wonderful for that. Last night she said that her time was near to go to her home in the sky and meet God.

  11. I would love to hear some words of ecouragement that I can share with my aunt that is dying of stage 4 lung cancer that has mestasis to her brain and lymph nodes. Thank you Stacey Cortes

  12. I would love to be entered into the giveaway! I would like the Voyager GoBible if I win. Thank you for the awesome devotionals! They always seem to fit in what I am going through at the time. God is good!

  13. I read your devotion today on Words of Encouragement, at just the right time. I lost my dear husband a few months ago to a horrible accident, and am now raising our 2 little girls, age 5 and 8, on my own. We had a wonderful awesome special story as a family,and I don't even know where or how to begin to grieve. We have some great friends around us, but sadly, all of our families are out of state. We fostered and then adopted our youngest daughter, who has some developmental and behavioral issues. So these days, I am just trying to get through each day with the help of God. He has been so awesome to us, and is taking care of us. I am closer than ever to him, though horribly poor with my quiet times and devotions. Thank you for your "realness" about motherhood. I feel like a terrible mother these days, and am leaning on the Lord for help.
    Thanks and sorry for the ramble…

  14. The "ministry of encouragement" is one I share with you wholeheartedly. It's actually the crux of my personal mission statement, based on II Corinthians 5:18: "To be an ambassador of reconciliation through words of encouragement."
    Today I have the humbling task of taking my teenage daughter to the funeral of a young friend who perished in a fire last week, along with her older sister. I am praying that God will give me just the right words to encourage someone there today.
    I try to follow the example of Lee Iococca, who said, "If you have something negative to say, say it in person. If you have something nice to say, write it down." The written word is a powerfully tangible and lasting thing. Just yesterday, I forwarded a note of encouagement to our school superintendent, who as you can imagine is the first to hear complaints, but perhaps the last to be appreciated.
    For my daughter, who has just turned 16, we are (secretly!) collecting written words of blessing and encouragement for her as she fast approaches womanhood. I trust that these sweet words from teachers, friends and others who have helped shape her life will be a continual source of encouragement to her in the coming years.
    Finally, I did forward your devotional to my sister-in-law, who is coming to the end of a 4-year lawsuit in which we pray for God's victory.
    Thank you so much for the reminder of this very signigicant ministry!