John C. Maxwell - Encouragement Changes Everything: Bless and Be Blessed

A GIFT OF
ENCOURAGEMENT

for
___________________________

from
___________________________

Encouragement

Encouragement Changes Everything: Bless and Be Blessed
Copyright 2008 John C. Maxwell

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FOR RICK GOAD

19632007

A friend and encourager who added value to my life.

He loved me unconditionally,

Served me continually, and

Brought joy to me daily.

Thousands would say with me,

Rick made a difference in our lives.

Contents

Encouragement is
oxygen to the soul.

GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS

INTRODUCTION
Encourage Others and Change Their Worlds

Everyone needs encouragement. And everyoneyoung or old, the successful or lessthansuccessful, unknown or famouswho receives encouragement is changed by it. As Mark Twain said, One compliment can keep me going for a whole month.

Encouragements impact can be profound. A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change his life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential. Like Zig Ziglar says, You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.

What does true encouragement look likethe kind that changes lives forever? To encourage people is to help them gain courage they might not otherwise possesscourage to face the day, to do whats right, to take risks, to make a difference. And the heart of encouragement is to communicate a persons value. When we help people feel valuable, capable, and motivated we sometimes see their lives change foreverand then see them go on to change the world.

If you are a parent, you have a responsibility to encourage members of your family. If you are an organizational leader, the effectiveness of your team increases dramatically in proportion to the amount of encouragement you give the people you lead. As a friend, you have the privilege of sharing encouraging words that may help someone persevere through a rough time or strive for greatness. In the following pages, well see how encouragement has the power to change everythingindividuals, families, schools, businesses, churchesby creating an environment where people can become their best.

I hope this book is an encouragement to you. I trust the stories, quotes, and observations will help and inspire you. And once you have been encouraged, I pray you will pass that encouragement on to others. Never forget: Encouragement changes everything. Bless and be blessed!

Gods love for us gives us
the reason to encourage others.

Gods love in us gives us
the ability to encourage others.

Gods love through us gives us
the way to encourage others.

JOHN C. MAXWELL

Be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the LORD

PSALM 31 : 24

People go farther than they thought they could
when someone else thinks they can.

JOHN C. MAXWELL

Let no feeling of discouragement
prey upon you, and in the end
you are sure to succeed.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Nineteenth-century writer Walt Whitman struggled for years to get anyone interested in his poetry. In the midst of his discouragement, Whitman received a lifechanging letter from an admirer of his work. The note read: Dear sir, I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed. I greet you at the beginning of a great career. It was signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Whitman enjoyed a long career and is now considered one of the giants of American literature. But when times were tough, he needed encouragement to keep going. When were on the brink of failure, the right words at the right time can keep us in the game. When were too tired or discouraged to keep going, an act of compassion can give us new strength. Theres no doubt about it: Encouragement enables us to persevere like nothing else.

ENCOURAGEMENT AND
ENDURANCE

When Rick Hoyt was born in 1962, his parents possessed the typical excited expectations of firsttime parents. But then they discovered that during Ricks birth, his umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck, cutting off the oxygen to his brain. Later, Rick was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. When he was eight months old, his father, Dick, remembers, the doctors told us we should put him awayhed be a vegetable all his life. But Ricks parents wouldnt do that. They were determined to raise him like any other child.

AN UPHILL BATTLE. Sometimes that was tough. Rick is a quadriplegic who cannot speak because he has limited control of his tongue. But Ricks parents worked with him, encouraged him, and taught him everything they could, always including him in family activities. When Rick was ten, his life changed when engineers from Tufts University created a device that enabled him to communicate via computer. The first words he slowly and painstakingly punched out were, Go Bruins. Thats when the family, who had been following the NHLs Boston Bruins in the playoffs, discovered Rick was a sports fan.

One day in school when he was fifteen, Rick found out about a fundraising 5K race (3.1 miles) intended to help a young athlete who had been paralyzed in an accident. He told his father that he wanted to participate. Dick, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard (now retired), was in his late thirties and out of shape. But he wanted to encourage his son, so he agreed to run and push his son in a modified wheelchair. When they crossed the finish line (second to last), Dick recalls, Rick flashed the biggest smile you ever saw in your life. After the race, Rick wrote out this simple message: Dad, I felt like I wasnt handicapped. After that day, their lives would never be the same again.