The other night after a speaking engagement I came home and took Sunshine for a long walk. It had been a long day and I needed some down time to clear my thoughts. It was a beautiful summer night around 8:30 and there was even a slight cool breeze and a full moon on the rise. We got up to the baseball field in our neighborhood and played chase for a bit then both plopped down in the middle of the field. Happy, tired and done for the day.

As always I was pondering life. Really the “game” of life and what a game it is…. We talk about the “game” but do we know where we are in it? What position are you playing? Are you a Star Player or a Bench Warmer or maybe the water boy? Who’s calling the plays? Do we know when to train? Warm up? Rest and recover? Do you read your play book? Are you even in the game? If so is there still JOY in playing the game?

With life, as in any game you need training, warm up, studying the playbook, rest, time with the coach and time with the team during the different seasons of our life. We need one on one with the one who created us, our true life coach. The one who believes in us, loves us and can encourage us to keep playing our best even though our best will look different in the continually changing seasons of our game.

“Whatever our season of life, it offers its own opportunities and challenges for spiritual growth. Instead of wishing we were in another season, we ought to find out what this one offers. Life counts-all of it.” John Ortberg

So, whether you are a star player and have it down, warming the bench or been taken out of the game due to illness, bad behavior or just plain worn out and exhausted, remember where your training and strength comes from. As the coach says, ” Be still and know that I am God….I know all the plays and the players….Come to me and I will give you rest, direction, strength, comfort and peace for wherever you are in the game.”

As Sunshine and I headed home I felt like she knew exactly where she was in the game…..Less Bark and more WAG! I think she is on to something…..If I only had a tail!

I am facilitating a group doing the book SABBATH by Wayne Muller (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES as many of you know) and there was a line in it that I asked the group to ponder…

“Be still. Stop. There is no rush to get to the end, because we are never finished. Take time to rest, and eat, and drink, and be refreshed. And in the gentle rhythm of that refreshment, listen to the sound the heart makes as it speaks the quiet truth of what is needed.”

It is that last line that I asked them, “What do you hear that is needed?”

For me it was loud and clear but I felt a bit silly, like a little girl saying it, “I need someone to tell me I am doing a good job and that they were proud of me.” Being single and working for myself there is little encouragement, feedback or praise unless you count Sunshine’s wag as a “Well done!” Oh sure, I feel God’s presence and peace when I know I am walking in His will, what my sister calls the “Narrow Path”, but every now and then a good audible “Way to Go!” would fill my tank.

Then I started thinking it’s not just me but all of us….children, couples, friends, co-workers….the list goes on and on. We all need to hear, “Good job, Way to go, I am proud of you!” Isn’t it funny how we can get so busy minded with our own stuff that we can forget to encourage, praise and lift others up. For some, one kind word is all their hungry hearts need to satisfy. I had a client tell me this week, “No one ever told me I was strong, beautiful and courageous until you did.” She is in her 50′s……

Reality is we often forget that the spoken word is as powerful in praise as it can be destructive. May we use this power for good, not evil, and definitely not neglect the power granted us to uplift and love one another with our words. Think how many words spill out of our mouths each day, can we bless someone with a few of them?

So as Paul said to the Thessalonians, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up daily!” Yes Paul you were right, a good encouraging word can be just what is needed….at least for this silly little girl!