You Are The Encourager

Have you ever walked down a lane or been in a garden when plumerias are blooming? The sun warms the flowers, and the fragrance fills the air. Even if you can’t see the tree or flowers, the makani (wind) fills the air with a sweetness that’s hard to describe but lasts in your memory forever.

Sometimes, the simplest act of kindness can have a plumeria effect and sweeten the air for someone far beyond what you could imagine.

When I was 8 years old, in the midst of deep fear…

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...someone showed me kindness that impacted me so deeply, I can still see her face. I doubt she had any idea how much her actions would still touch me over 50 years later.

I was born with an eye muscle problem. My first surgery was at one years old. I had five more by the time I was eight. It was an uncomfortable recovery, but the hospital stay was especially scary because in those days, parents weren’t allowed to stay with their children overnight.

I was 6 or 7 years old for this particular surgery. My mom took me to check into the hospital the night before. As she left, a deep dread came over me. Nighttime was the worst.

All the other children on the ward were asleep, but I laid wide awake. My nurse kept checking on me, trying to reassure me, but I couldn’t sleep. Then, she did something surprising I have never forgotten.

She had me get out of bed and walked me down to the nurses station. I was terrified she was going to give me a shot. Instead, she showed me around and pulled up a chair. She raised it so I could reach the desk, gave me a pad of sticky notes and one of those pens you could click to change colors - black, blue, green, and red. She said I could sit with her and draw as long as I liked while she worked.

It was a simple act. But it had a huge impact. I felt secure, cared about, relieved, and “grown up” sitting with the nurses. I will never forget her kindness, or her face.

Many times when we see someone who is really struggling, taking time to stop, feel empathy and come up with a kind action often feels like an inconvenience. We may think it’s too costly, or we question the value of the what we could do in that moment. Often we think about it so long that the opportunity is gone.

I understand that some of us are so in need of love ourselves, we can’t even think of showing love to others. If this is the case for you I hope you’ll check out the story “I Hand You a Bouquet”. But the truth is, whether or not we too are in need, as humans, and especially as followers of Jesus, we need to notice the needs of others and act!

Why especially followers of Jesus? Because followers of Jesus are working towards living like he did.

We can see numerous examples in the Bible of how he lived with kindness and tender-heartedness in his own life. Think about the Samaritan woman he purposefully met at the well in midday. She was socially isolated and Jews were not supposed to talk to Samaritans. But Jesus took the time to show her the attention she needed. Think about the two blind beggars at the city gate, unnoticed and invisible to those walking past. Jesus stopped to talk to them and ask them questions. Think about the leper walking down the road in loneliness, calling out “unclean”watching people part and run away from him. Jesus didn’t. Instead, he physically touched this man who probably hadn’t been touched in years.

Also in Ephesians 4:32 we are instructed: “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” NLT

Like the fragrance of the plumeria, being kind and tender-hearted impacts every person we choose to have contact with. Being tenderhearted, we can show empathy for the pain and struggles of others. Offering kindness can have more encouragement and a longer impact than we imagine, even if it’s small and quick, and we never see that person again.

I hope I had this type of impact on two airline workers recently. I was traveling home from a trip to see my grandkids. I made a mistake in my booking and when I checked in, I was told they could not get my bag home with me.

These two airline workers jumped into action, rerouting me and my bag, waiving change fees and still got me home at the same time I was expecting to arrive!

I watched as they frantically worked. I wished I could hug them both. Then I remembered the appreciation cards I was carrying. I picked out two. They gave me my tickets and told me to RUN to the gate. Instead of taking off, I took the time to hand each a card and thanked them again. Then I ran! While I ran, I prayed, “God, let them know how deeply appreciative I am of all their hard work for me.”

Of course, I will never know if, or how those cards encouraged either of them. The nurse at the hospital never knew know how much she impacted me. But like the plumeria, that spreads its fragrance far beyond where you can see it, we too can spread love and kindness far beyond where we can see its impact.

One of the biggest challenges in showing kindness is recognizing when someone in our midst actually feels socially isolated or when someone slowly slips away and disappears. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

So let me ask you to ponder two things.

First take some time to examine your priorities and the state of your heart. Do you value kindness? Are you tender-hearted?

Then, ask yourself, “Do I know anyone that is relationally isolated? Can I think of anyone in my sphere of influence that I haven’t seen around in a while, or has disappeared?”

My greatest hope for Art Lifting Hearts, is to help YOU be the encourager by providing you with some resources on my website using my art, writing and visual stories.

I pray regularly that each of you will become a sweet fragrance of kindness in your world.