"ENcourage One Another," Kelli Zaniel

Potty training 101--day two. Pull-ups, panties, laundry, messes, flushes…it’s a dirty job but somebody’s gotta do it! Two days after bidding farewell to Disney princess diapers, success is on the horizon. Cheers, high fives and giggles to go around. What a sense of accomplishment for a 2 year old!

While in the kitchen making copycat Chik-fil-A sandwiches, I hear high pitch shrills coming from the bathroom. As I turn the corner to peek inside, I see the potty trainer hopping off her throne of achievement with a big smile. Arms high in the air-- it’s as if she has just landed the perfect Olympic dismount. She squeals, “I did it!” Her two sister audience claps and cheers their baby sister onto glory.

This is what God intends for us. He wants us to cheer each other on, not tear each other down. There are people out there who will take every opportunity to rip us apart. Sometimes, one sarcastic word or one little smirk sends us spiraling into a whirlwind of insecurity and self-doubt. We need to strive to make our Christian sisters feel like they are princesses in a not so fairy tale world.

Life is tough. Motherhood is even tougher. It will be so much easier to be the godly woman, wife and mother God designed us to be when we have our Christian sisters cheering us on, don’t you think?

Power Verses:

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness, (Hebrews 3:13);

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers...(Ephesians 4:29;3); and

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching, (Hebrews 10:23-25).