Ministry of Encouragement

There are many things in life that we forget to say on a regular basis, like telling someone that they are doing a good job. Perhaps that's why I love living in community so much. That's never something that doesn't get said. There is always positive reinforcement here even for the simplest things like setting the table. There is always a please when asking and then a thank you when something is done. It's the most incredible thing that doesn't seem to happen in the world on a regular basis.

We painted the house over the past three days. The night we primed all the rooms upstairs all the core members were home. They were great for encouraging us. The supervision was interesting as well. There were a few busted guts when someone nearly swallowed some of the white paint. It was the perfect way to paint a huge area.

There are many ministries here that are not understood by many people who aren't a part of this community. There is the ministry of hospitality that happens whenever someone walks through the door. The ministry of encouragement is the one that I miss the most when I leave though.

There is always something to have done a good job on when we're here. There are things that can be done badly as well, but we never seem to mention those. It always seems to be more important to build someone up. There is never any need here to bring people down, but laughter and humour are in high supply.

There are ministries that we don't think about until we are faced with the lack of them in our lives. We have lost the ministry of encouragement in much of society so when we find it, it is much more precious.