The Power of a Thank You!

Summer has certainly hit us hard here in the South, with temperatures well over 100 degrees for the past week!  We can't seem to water the grass enough to keep it green and indoors is the preferable location to be most of the day. Daily, I find myself praying for rain for our drought stricken area and watching the skies for some dark clouds that might hold some drops of moisture.

But, something else has been on my mind these past few days. I have been prayerfully pondering gratitude and its effect on those around us! A simple "Thank You" is so powerful and so necessary! Is it a part of your daily vocabulary as an E Coach or Leader in Celebrate Recovery?

There are many places that the word THANKS can be used. It certainly is a vital part of our prayer life.  We should give thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on a regular basis.  We have so much to be thankful for.  We are truly blessed. Thanking our God in prayer for even little things that he blesses us with will bless Him in return! I believe the scripture reads, In everything, give thanks!" (I Thes. 5:18) (NIV) One of my favorite songs says "Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks for what He's given - Jesus Christ."

Scripture also speaks of edifying the body of Christ in Ephesians 4:12. What can we do to build up the body of Christ, and more specifically our Celebrate Recovery Leaders? It begins with a simple "Thank You".  

Thank You helps a person feel recognized and appreciated.  It gives them and what they do value. It is not enough to feel appreciative towards others, but to express those sentiments is important!

Celebrate Recovery has had a lot of recent promotion about the "we get to" do this ministry, a powerful positive and motivating thought!  I want to be the first to say Thank You for doing what you do, wherever you are.  I THANK GOD that He has called you and set you apart for His good purposes. Be blessed in your ministry as you bless others with appreciation!

See you at the Summit!

Paula

 

Meeting Other Celebrate Recovery Encourager Coaches

This past weekend, the First Church of the Nazarene, in Nampa, Idaho, hosted a Celebrate Recovery One Day Seminar.  Many thanks to Barry and Eunice Lucas and to their team of leaders who helped make it a success!

I love meeting Encourager Coaches who are attending the One Days. In Nampa, I was able to visit with several enthusiastic Encourager Coaches from the Northwest who were eager to network and learn more about this important position on the T.E.A.M.  Of course, I told them about this blog and encouraged them to read the two years worth of information found here, as a resource.

One of the greatest networking opportunities is just ahead of us.  The Summit, in August, will be an excellent time to meet and get to know other CR Encourager Coaches.  There will be plenty of opportunities to connect with other E coaches and exchange ideas and information, as well as learn more about the role you play on the T.E.A.M. Come join us for this exciting CR experience.

Be sure to reserve your seat quickly because the Summit is filling up quickly. Two thirds of the seats are already reserved. Don't miss out on this special time together.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Blessings,

Paula 

Nurture Camaraderie

This past Saturday, my extremely annoying alarm clock jolted me out of a sound sleep at 4:15am. I reluctantly pushed off the covers, swung my feet onto the floor, stood up and performed an off-balance stretch that nearly toppled the stand-up mirror.

Groggy, but finally awake, I headed for the stairs ignoring my groaning body's pleading for just 5 more minutes of rest... "just 5 more minutes for crying out loud! It's four o' stinking clock in the stinking morning!!" What could have possible dragged me out of my cherished Saturday morning slumber at such an hour?...

14 equally sleepy saints waiting at the church for me to drive the bus to New Wilmington for a One Day Seminar, that's what.

I had asked one of my leaders to pick up some breakfast items for the trip, and he showed up with a cooler full of orange juice and a couple crates full of Panera goodies! Another fella arrived with several boxes of donuts. Needless to say, we didn't starve on our 3 hour journey into Pennsylvania. Praise music blasting, riders chatting away in their seats, I pulled out of the parking lot anticipating a glorious day with some of my favorite people... and I was not disappointed.

Most of those who made the trip were leaders, the others are actively heading that direction. So, at the end of the day, they all reflected on how much they had learned and how excited they were to get back and implement the training. However, what everyone seemed to have gotten most out of our little road trip is an increased appreciation and love for one another.

What I really want to focus on in this blog is how relationships within our CR group seem to blossom and bloom brightest in these fellowship opportunities outside our CR meetings.
As Encourager Coaches, a large part of our role is to "create fellowship events for leaders and groups." On Saturday, it was so evident why nurturing camaraderie in our ministry is so vital.

"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 10:24, 25)

Make opportunities to fellowship outside your regularly scheduled CR meetings... and make the most of every one of these opportunities (no matter how early in the morning!) by nurturing a camaraderie that comes through the love and fellowship of Jesus Christ.

-john

The RPC

A couple weeks ago, one of the state reps at the South Carolina One Day Seminar asked me, "what is the single most effective encouragement tool you use as the National Encourager?" I told him "you know what?, that is a very good question." More than a pathetic attempt to stall the man (it didn't work anyway), I meant it... it really was a great question! I thought about it for more than a few moments of hemming and hawing, and then it came to me clear as a bell- the random phone call.

Throughout the time I have spent in ministry, the random phone call (or RPC as it is known to us encourager coaches) has been an incredibly potent weapon in the fight against discouragement. It's a relatively effortless, and extremely efficacious way to, well... reach out and truly touch someone.

Here are three simple steps you can take in order to pull off the perfect RPC.

1) Pray for the person you are about to call.

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone..." (1 Timothy 2:1)

2) Call the person at a time that is convenient for them, and begin the conversation like this:
"Have I caught you at a bad time?"

If you are satisfied by their answer that it is indeed a good time to talk, simply explain that you were just praying for him or her (it's best to call someone of the same gender-thus the male and female encourager coach roles), and that you are thankful God has put him or her in your life. Specifically name positive attributes, giftings, assets this person possesses that you are especially appreciative of and excited about seeing used for God's glory.

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

3) Close the conversation by asking how you could continue to pray for this person, and then ask if it would be ok to pray for any needs mentioned to conclude the RPC.

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith." (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Be an encouragement to someone today. Reach out and...

-john

Significance

I have a tiny globe sitting on my desk... my kids love to play with it. It is a minuscule representative of the world we live in. Even as I write I am pausing just long enough to trace my finger across the North Atlantic Ocean, into and through the land labeled “United States”, then down into Mexico, the South Pacific, New Zealand...

I remember a short lived, but very popular comic strip where the main character, a short, feisty, mussy- haired youngster, stood on a hill, puny and pitiful against a vast expanse of a starry night, shaking his fist and yelling at the sky, “I'M SIGNIFICANT!!!”

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? -Isaiah 40:12

So many of the problems which cause great concern in those who attend our Celebrate Recovery program today seem far too colossal and unalterable to even imagine a solution. The economy, war, disease, addiction, depression, death...

When faced with the the monumental, the imposing, the towering and often times overwhelming realities of this world, we as encourager coaches must recognize, and respond to the hunger for life to have some sort of significance our attendees are feeling.

We must be ready to confidently embrace our own powerlessness, and model the peace Christ has given us in our relationship and purpose in Him. He knows when each sparrow falls, he stores our tears in a bottle, and even the hairs on our head are numbered by an infinite, all-powerful, compassionate and loving God.

When folks walk into your meeting who have been defiantly shaking their fist at the heavens frustrated with society's avalanche of woes, simply encourage them to look to the One who holds the future for a hope that never fades. His plan is impossible to thwart-his love never fails

To you, O LORD , I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.

-Psalm 25:1

john e