Maybe you remember Naomi. She had her name changed to Marah because her
life had been bitter. If there is one
predominant word that would describe the feeling I find among pastors and
church workers across
The following story is taken from Our Daily Bread.
It wasn’t like Scott Kregel to
give up. He was a battler, a dedicated
athlete who spent hour after hour perfecting his free throw and jump shot
during the hot summer months of 1987. But just before fall practice everything
changed. A serious car accident left
Scott in a coma for several days. When
he awoke, a long rehabilitation process lay ahead. Like most patients with closed head injuries,
Scott balked at doing the slow, tedious work that was required to get him back
to normal – things such as stringing beads.
What high school junior would enjoy that? Tom Martin, Scott’s basketball coach at the
Christian school he attended, had an idea.
Coach Martin told Scott that he would reserve a spot on the varsity for
him – if he would cooperate with his therapist and show progress in the tasks
he was asked to do. And Tom’s wife Cindy
spent many hours with Scott, encouraging him to keep going. Within two months, Scott was riding off the
basketball court on his teammates’ shoulders.
He had made nine straight free throws to clinch the triple-overtime
league victory. It was a remarkable
testimony of the power of encouragement.
✞ Take time to encourage at least one person every day.
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