My daughter Victoria called in the early afternoon to see if I was available to watch the boys for a couple of hours.  She had an award meeting for one of her classes and needed someone to watch Brayden and Keaton from 3:45 to 5:45.  No problem.

Three forty-five arrived and the boys hopped out of the car and off went their mother.  I want you to get the picture at our home at this time.  Nadine had run 6 1/2 miles earlier and still had her running outfit on.  She was doing bathrooms, dusting furniture, and fixing a delicious soup for supper.  Her oldest son Greg and wife Jocelyn with their son Greyson were coming from Colorado for a few day visit and would be here around 7:30.

Brayden, 6 1/2 , came into the house, took one look at Nadine and said, “Grandma, you look very beautiful today.”  He promptly walked off to play outside, never thinking what he had just done to the spirit of Nadine.  Mind you, she is beautiful all the time, but she didn’t feel especially beautiful at the time.

I think that scenario exists too much in our world.  There are people around us who are going about their business and need a word of encouragement from someone.  The problem surfaces when no word is given.  People feel taken for granted.  They feel unappreciated.  Unvalued.  If only we could take a clue from my grandson and begin to see people that need that word of encouragement from us.  Brayden’s eyes were open when he came into the house and verbalized what he was seeing.  We too could open our eyes to people we come in contact with and encourage them.  A grocer.  A postman.  A retail clerk.

What about A bagger of groceries?  Earlier in the day I was getting groceries at Frys and was checking out.  Fry’s  Food  employs individuals that are mentally challenged but need a place where they can use what skills they have.  Luke was one such person who was in training.  There was a supervisor who was telling him how to bag groceries with cold products in one bag, cleaning products in another, and produce in still another.  As I left, I said “Thank you Luke.  You did a great job.” and gave him a thumbs up to which he responded in kind.

On this journey we have the privilege of giving encouragement to those we come in contact with.  How about starting today.