Rays of encouragement

Sometimes I find it is easy to get discouraged. Discouraged by what I see in myself, by my mistakes, by my perceived lacks. Discouraged by what others say or write to me, or how they act. Discouraged by the endless work that parades across my desk, by the house that never seems clean enough, or by the boys that never stay fed.

But last week I had some rays of encouragement that were like bright, sunny days after grey, cold, drizzly days.

I received this email from a team-mate with the magazine:

I just wanted you to know I prayed throughout the day for you, and with lots of gratitude to God for what you do. It makes a huge difference for missionaries and the kingdom, and it is amazing that this isn't even your original training.

I also had lunch with a leader who encouraged me in her response to the work I've been doing with social media for OMF, and also by her concern that I don't get overloaded.

And even this, from an author:

Thank you very much for editing [my work], I am very happy about this, thank you.

Praise the Lord for timely encouragement. Plus a reminder today from him that it's not really about me anyway, but about him:

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (2 Cor. 3:5 NIV)