Idelette embodies encouragement for me… laughing, crying & dancing together.
In the 80’s it was all about encouragement. Everyone hungered for it. We were told from youth group on to encourage one another. Honestly, in retrospect, it was a buzz word. It never meant much to me, it felt too thin to hold the heavy things in my heart.
I like to think of presence instead. Be present with me through the upticks and downturns, in the sometimes streamlined and often messy process of things. Be with me as I go deep into pockets of passion for books, ideas, places or when I go far afield for a season. Be present for it all – and you will impart courage of a valuable sort.
Don’t just say nice things or what you think I want to hear. Don’t feign a smile or merely humor me. There are no echoes of encouragement there. The older I get, and I’m getting there faster with a birthday this weekend, the more I see through the shams – even when well intended.
Be with me, a companion on the way. Tarry. Take time to sit, walk, laugh at the audacity and irony of it all. Know my story because you’ve been present to it over time. Such a tenure of presence is the only encouragement that matters to me now.
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing. This prompt could not have come at a better time, and it is wonderful seeing all the ways we see encouragement happening.
Aww..I love yall’s faces in the photo!! So awesome!
Love how you both love each other (and me). 🙂
And even though I took the picture, I just LOVELOVELOVE this moment. So special.
xoxo
Idelette definitely has that effect on people! Loved this post, Kelley.
Teen, you always capture the best moments! Love that we get to present to one another on-line, on Voxer, in Vancouver, in Uganda and in Burundi! Talk about presence… we’ve been to the mountains of Matara and the new wells of Bubanza. Makes me wonder what’s in store for us…
India…that’s what…
Amen! And Happy Birthday this coming weekend!
I’m with you, Kelley. I know what you mean about the kind of encouragement that hangs on the surface. Often if not usually well-meaning! I am grateful for it. But it is so precious when somebody is present for the ride. Unfinishedness. Potential. All that good stuff that’s hard to grab on to!
“a tenure of presence”–oh, my. Yes, this is what we all hope for isn’t it? To give and receive it.
Hi Kelly
Your words are convincing truths we all would do well to listen too! Let us really listen until we hear what goes on in another’s life before we offer empty words without an ounce of life! Thanks, you made me really think.
Luv XX
Mia
I’ll just stay here and cry now … You did say we cry together and it equals encouragement, right? 😉
I was just going to tell you how YOU encourage me … You are pulling something out of me, even as we metaphorically speak, in this season of writing and growing. You have lit a fire of adventure in my writing … thank you for seeing into me, loving my story, understanding the context and calling it out.