Encouragement...

Hey Followers,  I'm back and like the title of this blog indicates, I'm encouraged!  I'm encouraged for many reasons...well four to be exact!  That happens to be the number of followers I've gained since my initial post!  Shouts out to you all!

OK so what exactly is encouragement really?  It's defined as "the expression of giving approval and support; boost: the act of giving hope or support to someone."  Reading that definition gave me the opportunity to look back over my own life and access how I've been encouraged.

My earliest remembered form of encouragement came when I was just a young whippersnapper.  I might have been 5 or 6 and the question was posed..."What do you want to be when you grow up?" My Aunt must have asked me during some point of a "3-2-1 Contact" episode because I blurted out...uh..uh...a Professor!  I never really wanted to be a professor, I think I just wanted to rock a lab coat but it was too late -my fate had been sealed!  For the next 15 years my Aunt called me "The Professor" every time she saw me. It wasn't until college that I got up the courage to tell her the truth.  This after I'd gotten enough of my lab coat fix during Chem 1 and had to be forced into it for Chem 2.

You see, being the young lad I was, I took her attempts at encouraging me as an interrogation until I realized that some people were never asked that question.  Really!

Now as I enter the classroom of my oldest boy I see pictures and writings of what each and every student wants to do when they grow up.  The teacher posed the question to them as a project. "What do you want to do when you grow up?" - Most of the boys said professional sports stars, some teachers, and one lone child said a Doctor.  I was proud of that child.  That was not my child.  Mine said "To jump off the roof of his house with a trash bag" -attached to a full color animated graphic!  Distraught, I figured I'd redeem my parenting outlook and ask my princess who came through with a "veterinarian."  Sweet!  I should have stopped there because my youngest said a "tiger!"

The bottom line people is that you should be careful how you pose your questions, never give your child an opportunity to watch backyard wrestling, and that positive encouragement goes a long way in ones life.  It is my belief that my use of encouragement in the lives of my children will greatly impact their future.  It is true that their minds are as clay and we as parents must boost them with hope and approval to assist them with their own growth into becoming successful contributors of their generation- not just consumers!  


My savior said  "Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

So encourage your children and speak their dreams into their lives.  For me, I'll be addressing my children as such...Dr. Mason, WWE Superstar, and to my youngest..."Go get em' Tiger!"  I'm proud of them all.