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- Apr 25, 2006
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Anybody can do it!
'Encourage one another.' 1 THESSALONIANS 5:11
Pastor Chuck Swindoll writes: 'The ski slopes were in perfect condition. I struck out on my first attempt at skiing with a positive attitude, thinking, "I'm going to be the first person who learns to ski without falling down". It's doubtful anyone ever came down a ski slope more ways, or landed in more positions, or did more creative things in the air before landing. Working with me that humiliating day was the world's most encouraging ski instructor. Never once did she lose her cool, or laugh at me, or say "You are absolutely impossible. I quit!" That dear, gracious lady helped me up more times than I can number. She repeated the same basics time and again; like she had never said them before. Even though I was colder than an explorer in the Antarctic, irritable, impatient, and under the snow more than I was on it, she kept offering words of reassurance.
That day God gave me a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the value of encouragement...What is true for a novice on the snow once a year is all the more true for people we meet every day. Harassed by demands and deadlines; bruised by worry, adversity and failure; broken by disillusionment and defeated by sin, they live somewhere between dull discouragement and sheer panic. All of us need encouragement, and the beautiful part about encouragement is this: anybody can do it!'
written by Bob Gass
'Encourage one another.' 1 THESSALONIANS 5:11
Pastor Chuck Swindoll writes: 'The ski slopes were in perfect condition. I struck out on my first attempt at skiing with a positive attitude, thinking, "I'm going to be the first person who learns to ski without falling down". It's doubtful anyone ever came down a ski slope more ways, or landed in more positions, or did more creative things in the air before landing. Working with me that humiliating day was the world's most encouraging ski instructor. Never once did she lose her cool, or laugh at me, or say "You are absolutely impossible. I quit!" That dear, gracious lady helped me up more times than I can number. She repeated the same basics time and again; like she had never said them before. Even though I was colder than an explorer in the Antarctic, irritable, impatient, and under the snow more than I was on it, she kept offering words of reassurance.
That day God gave me a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the value of encouragement...What is true for a novice on the snow once a year is all the more true for people we meet every day. Harassed by demands and deadlines; bruised by worry, adversity and failure; broken by disillusionment and defeated by sin, they live somewhere between dull discouragement and sheer panic. All of us need encouragement, and the beautiful part about encouragement is this: anybody can do it!'
written by Bob Gass
