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To Spread Light …

Some days you’re the candle, some days you’re the mirror… but either way you can be a spreader of light.

If someone offers you a word or gesture of kindness, accept it!  If someone needs one, offer what you can. 

We know what we are going through, but we never really know what everyone else is going through.  Someone near and dear to you may be in need of uplifting… a stranger who crosses your path may be in need of a kind word, encouragement or simply, understanding.  

 

If we look outside of ourselves, if we look at our day from the perspective that ‘there are no coincidences’, then we can believe that everyone we interact with each day is there for a reason… however significant or however fleeting.  Perhaps we have connected so that we can encourage them… or perhaps it is for them to encourage us. Either way, we are both blessed in the process.  

There is a light inside of each of us… sometimes we shine so bright we light the way for others.  We draw those toward us like a beacon on a hill.  Other times our own light seems to flicker and grow dim, and we need the spark from someone else to brighten our spirits… to re-ignite us.    

Has someone been on your mind lately but you don’t know why?  Perhaps they need to be uplifted and encouraged.  Have you notice a co-worker who seems distance or detached?  A kind gesture may go a long way in giving them hope to get through whatever they are facing.  We don’t need to know what is weighing on them, we simply need to be obedient to the prompting to reach out.  

Are you in need of encouragement yourself?  Be open to receiving a smile from a stranger or a friend… search out quotes, stories, music, people and scripture that will uplift you.  Pray. Be kind to yourself. 

What if for today, our prayer was this:

Lord, when I can, I will be the candle… one who brightens someone’s day with a smile, a hug or words of encouragement.  And when I can’t do that Lord, help me instead to be the reflection of the light that someone shines on me… to accept the smile, the hug, the kindness and encouragement with a grateful spirit and a simple ‘thank you’… to store it up and pass it on when I feel able.

Amen

Download the free printable journal page with quote and prayer of encouragement. (There is also a second lined page included.) 

Write about an experience you had when someone brightened your day with a simple act of kindness… or when you were able to brighten the day for someone else.

What small acts of ‘light and kindness’ can you think of to do for someone else?  Be mindful as you go about your week of being the ‘candle or the mirror’! 

 

 

Searching for more inspiration? 

We offer 31 Days of Inspirations and Prayers in 5 different design options and two different formats.  There are printable quote cards and prayers of encouragement as well as printable journal sets.  These sets were created to provide encouragement and hope to anyone who is going through a time of change, loss or struggle.  You can access the full printable sets by clicking on any of the photos below.  

Each set contains 31 different inspirational quotes and prayers of encouragement.  You just need to choose the design and format that speaks to you.

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The best view comes after the hardest climb…

I have a video of my granddaughter trudging up a large sand dune with spunk and determination that seemed beyond her two and a half years.  When she reached the top she high-fived her mom and triumphantly declared, “I did it!” 

How rewarding it must have been to stand at the top of what must have seemed to be a sandy mountain and look back at where she had started… and beyond! 

We all have our sand dunes, hills and mountains to navigate.  Some of them are short trudges, others a day long hike and others a journey that takes a very long time.  Some of them challenge us physically, some mentally and emotionally and others spiritually. 

At times we face a mountain so big that we are challenged in all ways.  The path to the top can be winding and difficult and seem never ending. But, oh, the view from the top once we finally make it! Sights that we could never see from the valley come clearly in to view. 

The long winding trail to the top is worth the effort, worth the struggles and challenges when at last we arrive. 

At times we actually get to choose our challenges… more often than not though, we don’t.  Challenges are thrust on us, dropped on us or creep up on us and catch us off guard.  Challenges are simply part of being alive.  We are not defined by our challenges, but they certainly reveal who we are, and ‘whose’ we are.  

We are not promised that life will be without challenges. But we are promised that God will be with us through them, if we allow Him to.   (Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 28:20, Romans 8:38-39)

Mountain top views don’t happen every day… some days we are in the valley, some days we are on the journey up the hill.  Some days we stop and rest, other days we push on.  Those moments when we reach the top are blissful.  And when we have to leave the mountain top, those are the moments that keep our spirit pushing forward through the next challenge. 

What if for today, our prayer was this...

“Lord, when I am weary and tired and out of breath, be the wind behind me to push me onward. Be the outstretched hand that pulls me up.

And when, finally, I stand on the mountain top, stand beside me as I take joy in the victory of the climb and the reward of the awe inspiring view.” 

Amen

Download the free printable journal page to journal about your own experiences with an awe inspiring view.

What challenge did you face?  How did you get through it?  What advice would you give someone who is going through a similar challenge?  What would you say to your former self about how you handled the challenge and what you learned from it?

Looking back, what can you be grateful for about what you went through? 

Searching for more inspiration? 

We offer 31 Days of Inspirations and Prayers in 5 different design options and two different formats.  There are printable quote cards and prayers of encouragement as well as printable journal sets.  These sets were created to provide encouragement and hope to anyone who is going through a time of change, loss or struggle.  You can access the full printable sets by clicking on any of the photos below.  

Each set contains 31 different inspirational quotes and prayers of encouragement.  You just need to choose the design and format that speaks to you.

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Strength Grows…

When you think you can’t do one more late night of caring for a sick child… but you keep going.   When you don’t think you have the energy for one more chemo treatment… but you keep going.  When you are just steps away from finishing a marathon and you think you can’t go any further… but keep going.  When you feel defeated and want to give up on your dreams…. but you keep going.  Strength grows in those moments.  We may be left physically, emotionally or mentally exhausted, but spiritually we are stronger.  We have kept going when we thought we could not.  

Sometimes the victory comes, not in the winning, but in the determination and perseverance that has grown inside of us.  

What if the motivation to keep going isn’t right in front of us to push us on?  A sick child, a life saving treatment, a finish line… those are tangible motivations that we can see – that drive us to keep going.  It may be hard, but the ‘why’ is right in front of us, urging us on.

But…what about those times when you have been prompted by God to step out in faith… into uncertainty? How do you keep going when the path seems long and, quite possibly, lonely?

Trust and obey.  

This has become my focus over the past few months.  Admittedly, both do not come easy to me. Some days are easier than others… some moments are easier than others.  I am ‘doing’ what I feel led to do, yet I am not seeing the results.  Will I ever see the results?  And if I do, will they be the results that I want and hope for?  Truly, God only knows.  

What I know is that I can trust Him and His plans for me… I can talk to Him and share my hopes and dreams and my weariness and uncertainty… and I can do what He asks me to do, grudgingly or with an attitude of worshipful abandonment.  And when I get to that place in my spirit that I can choose the latter, strength grows.

 

What if for today our prayer was this...

“Lord, help me this day with your strength…Fill me with determination and strength of purpose for what needs to be done.  And when I think that I can’t go on, encourage me to take just one more step. Let me look back on this day with the joy that comes from knowing that I gave it my all and did more than I thought was possible.

Amen

Download the free journal page to journal about your own area of challenge.  What are you faced with that you are struggling to finish or keep going with?  What, or who, is motivating you to keep going?  What are some ways you can adjust your perspective on the challenge? 

Can you recall a time when you felt that you could not keep going, but you did?  Looking back, can you see how that has helped you to grow? 

Searching for more inspiration? 

We offer 31 Days of Inspirations and Prayers in 5 different design options and two different formats.  There are printable quote cards and prayers of encouragement as well as printable journal sets.  These sets were created to provide encouragement and hope to anyone who is going through a time of change, loss or struggle.  You can access the full printable sets by clicking on any of the photos below.  

Each set contains 31 different inspirational quotes and prayers of encouragement.  You just need to choose the design and format that speaks to you.