Daffodils


Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
February 25, 2009

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. -1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

The definition of encourage is to inspire with hope, courage, or confidence. Each year about this time when I see the daffodils begin to poke through the soil, I know that the season of spring is not far off. The anticipation of warmer weather and a new growing season wards off the winter chill. The seed catalogs are coming in the mail and many of us are mentally planning our gardens. I think of the daffodil and other early bulbs as encouragers. They are among the first to step out ahead of everything else that remains dormant. My spirit gets a lift when I see a daffodil or two. It gives me hope for new beginnings.

While we can be encouraged ourselves by things in nature, kind words from friends or praise, we are reminded that we are to encourage others too. Being patient with someone is a major encouragement to a person. It says we care and are willing to stand along side of them, as long as they need us to. Being joyful in all things and with each other is another way to encourage and be encouraged. It has been said that “each person has an ideal, a hope, a dream which represents the soul. We must give to it the warmth of love, the light of understanding and the essence of encouragement”. I believe that God would be so pleased if we took a moment to encourage someone who will cross our path today. Perhaps God will send someone to us today for that very purpose.